Flawless
by YoungDemigod
Summary: Flawless: without any imperfections or defects. That was what Jason Grace wanted his life to be, and what it seemed to be. That was until Piper McLean happened, because love isn't flawless.
1. Sunday Mornings

Chapter 1: Sunday Mornings

Sunday mornings were never good ones for Piper McLean.

Her father would no doubt be at some interview or meet-and-greet (why did he have to take up the role of Wolverine again? She was sure Tristan McLean couldn't be _that_ high in demand) and his assistant Jane would be knocking at her door, nagging for her to wake up.

"How are you going to ever be successful in life if you can't do something as simple as waking up before ten on Sundays? Need I remind you that you start school tomorrow?"

Piper muffled a groan into her pillows as she lay facedown on her bed. As if she needed another reminder that she would be starting school in a new place for the eighth time. Jupiter High was just the next in a long series of prestigious schools her father sent her to, and to make matters worse, she would be staying in this school for much longer time, since her father had been signed on to play yet another superhero in yet another generic Hollywood action movie, and had to film there. Piper had brought up the idea of staying at her Grandpa Tom's in Milwaukee, but he'd ruffled her hair and laughed.

"I couldn't possibly bear to not have you around, Pipes."

Piper gave him a halfhearted smile as he walked out the door, and privately thought it wouldn't make a difference anyway, since she never saw him much in the first place. On weekdays he would leave the house early in the morning for press conferences, photo shoots and other shenanigans and return late at night, and passed out immediately after dinner. Piper hadn't had a conversation with him that was longer than five minutes since she was fourteen, and he hadn't picked up a phone call from her while he was at work since she was twelve. Throw in the fact that her own dear mother had up-and-dusted as soon as she turned one, and you had Piper McLean's tragic life.

Of course, she'd tried on more than one occasion to get her father's attention. There was the time she broke all the crayons in the class art box when she was ten, the time she switched the sugar in the school kitchens for salt when she was twelve, and of course, who could forget that period in time where she stole that BMW? She winced at the memory. Not only had she not gotten her father's attention, she'd been sent into rehab for a month. Needless to say, it had been the worst month of her life.

"Piper, if you don't get out of bed soon, I'm coming in there."

"Fine, I'm getting up, I'm getting up!" Having Jane in her room was an absolute no-no. From the clothes strewn all over her floor to the posters hanging haphazardly off the walls, Jane would have a fit. She would probably hire one of those awful cleaning helps, and they would basically get rid of every single thing in the room, spray copious amounts of air freshener, and charge a ridiculously high price.

She plodded downstairs, still in her sleepwear. She hopped onto a stool at the breakfast bar, and took some satisfaction when Jane visibly winced at her attire. "Your father gave me instructions to send you to the nearest mall today to get you to buy some new clothes. You know, for the new school year."

"Huh." Piper poured herself a glass of orange juice. She was mildly surprised her father even remembered that she was starting school the next day. "Your new school books arrived this morning, by the way," Jane pointed to the huge paper package on the other end of the breakfast bar. That would explain her father's knowledge in her school term. No surprise after all.

"So," Jane brought out her little planning book, and Piper had to exert a considerable amount of effort into not rolling her eyes. She had everything planned down to the minute- and was efficient in carrying them out too. "I figured if we're leaving in half an hour, we might be back by three. You can have lunch at the mall. I'll pick you up at two."

Half an hour later, Piper got out of the black Mercedes Jane drove and strolled into the mall, her snowboarding jacket and ripped jeans on, completely out of place in the mall full of tall teenage boys and girls, the girls sporting waist long bleached hair and crop tops, and the boys in basketball shorts and snapbacks. With her tan skin and choppy brown hair, which she always cut by herself with safety scissors out of rebellion, Piper stuck out like a sore thumb. She looked in the envelope Jane had passed her, and found the five hundred-dollar bills her dad gave her. _Might as well spend it._

She promptly ignored the Forever 21 and the American Outfitters store next to the entrance, and was pleased to find a relatively dark and shabby looking store on the second level, and walked out with three bags of an assortment of monochrome sweaters, jeans and a few graphic shirts. She found black sneakers on sale and promptly bought them along with a pair of white headphones. As she walked into the coffee shop, she was beginning to think that it wasn't a complete waste of time coming to the mall when someone elbowed her straight in the face and spilt hot coffee over the sleeve of her snowboarding jacket.

"Watch it!" Piper snapped. The holder of the coffee cup, who was in the midst of apologizing profusely, stopped halfway in his apologies. "Are you blind?" "It was an accident!" At a grand height of just over five feet, Piper did not appreciate it when people elbowed her in the face. She craned her neck to look at the offending figure and gave him a once over. A navy button down, jeans without a single crease in it, spotless white Converse, neatly combed blond hair in a quiff and sky blue eyes; he was the epitome of a clean cut, all American kind of boy. "You elbowed me in the face, and then spilled coffee on my favourite jacket. What a nice welcome to California!" She threw her hands up in the air in frustration.

"Well, I'm certainly not responsible for any other mishaps that happened to you! Don't you think that's quite judgmental of you?" They were beginning to draw the attention of the occupants in the café. "Jason, what's going on?" A tall girl with tumbling dark hair and sharp eyes walked over to the boy and placed a hand on his arm. With her neatly pressed collared shirt and white A-line skirt, Piper wondered if the word 'fun' was even in this girl's vocabulary. The common Californian stereotype of being cheerful and easygoing seemed overrated as the two of them faced her.

"I'll tell you what's going on, Rey. This girl just blew her top at me for accidentally elbowing her in the face and accidentally spilling coffee on her!" The guy- Jason- glared at her. Piper returned the glare in equal measure. "Are you not taking responsibility, then?"

"Okay, calm down, you two." The girl said soothingly, as if she was used to mediating fights. "Look, miss, I'm sorry Jason can be clumsy at times. I'm sure he can offer to pay for the cleaning services if you require them." She spoke in such a calm, rational tone that Piper felt childish for kicking up a fuss.

"Reyna! I never said I'd offer cleaning services-" Jason spluttered. She gave him a look and he subsided, his face settling into a scowl. Piper, now thoroughly exhausted, gave one last huff and turned her heel and stalked out. It was her second day here, and she hated California already. Heck, New York or even Boston had been better than this.

When Jane picked her up at two, Piper jumped right in and slammed the car door shut. "Have you eaten?" Piper plucked moodily at the lapel of her stained snowboarding jacket and lied without batting an eye. "Yeah."

"Good."

The car ride passed in silence, and as they pulled into the driveway of the mansion, Piper gathered all her bags and jumped out of the car before it stopped moving and ran upstairs two steps at a time, hearing Jane's audible sigh behind her.

…

"Okay, so we have a total of seven things to get today." Reyna announced as soon as they stepped into the mall. She consulted her list with her careful handwriting, pen in hand. "We need folders, stationery, track shoes…" She rattled on, and Jason let his gaze wander to the shops advertising their "Back-to-School" series. The mall was full of teenagers doing last minute shopping for the school term starting the next day. Normally, Jason and Reyna wouldn't have been amongst them, both probably having already prepared weeks before. Nothing less was expected of the two 4.0 GPA students.

This year, however, they had just received news that they'd been elected by the previous student council to head the next student council, and Reyna hadn't even allowed herself much time to celebrate before going into a frenzy and starting to aggressively plan out every single detail of the process.

"Bro!" A lean boy with messy black hair and green eyes skateboarded to them and nodded at Reyna, who smiled in return.

"How's it going man?" The two boys gave each other 'manly hugs', or so Reyna termed them. "I haven't seen you the entire summer!" "Sorry man, family trip to Greece," Jason said apologetically. Percy Jackson, his best guy friend, shrugged and smiled a lopsided smile. "It's okay, man. Hey, I heard you two got named Presidents of the student council! Congrats."

"Thanks, dude. I-" "Oi, no skateboarding in the mall!" the balding security guard yelled at Percy, who promptly hopped off the skateboard and yelled back. "I'm not riding it anymore!" That was Percy, rebellious to a fault. And then there was his polar opposite of a girlfriend, Annabeth. They used to argue and hurl insults back and forth, until one day they suddenly started dating. It was most bizarre, but yet Jason couldn't picture anyone else they could be more perfect with.

"Anyway, I gotta run, I was supposed to meet Annie in front of the mall ten minutes ago-" "Percy!" The latter cursed fluently as a tall blonde girl with stormy grey eyes walked over. "I thought we were supposed to- Reyna! Jason!" She gave each of them warm hugs, and immediately began talking to Reyna rapidly. The two girls were completely at ease with each other, laughing and recounting things they had experienced over the summer, and Jason happened to know for a fact that apart from Annabeth and Jason and a few other close friends, if anyone so much as touched her, they were dead. Reyna wasn't exactly a very welcoming person when it came to meeting new people.

They parted from Percy and Annabeth a few minutes later, and Reyna checked the time on her phone. "Okay, so if we make it quick, we might be able to stop for coffee at the café later." She didn't need to add in the 'if', Jason reflected in hindsight, because it was Reyna Ramirez-Arellano they were talking about, and she _always_ made things quick and efficient. Especially someone's death if they ever mentioned her last name out loud.

"One espresso, and one hazelnut latte please," Jason repeated their usual order to the barista half an hour later. Reyna had gone to get a seat in the crowded café, and it was left to Jason to order their drinks. The barista winked at him as she nodded towards Reyna. Jason blushed a deep red. He'd known Reyna ever since he could remember, but even though he'd maybe considered it at one point or another before, the feeling of platonic friendship was too strong for him to act on any previous attraction.

He retrieved his two mugs of coffee with a nod of thanks before making his way over to where Reyna sat, until his elbow smacked face first into a girl whose head barely reached the middle of his chest. "Oh my God, I'm so sorry-" "Watch it!" she snapped. Jason frowned, and then he caught sight of her face, upturned to him. Her eyes were bright and kaleidoscopic, and seemed to be unable to settle on one colour. Her face was clear of makeup, and she was wearing tattered jeans and an old snowboarding jacket, as if she couldn't care less about how she looked. He was momentarily unable to form a coherent sentence. "Are you blind?"

"It was an accident!" he protested. Her pretty face scrunched up in a scowl as she jabbed her finger at him. "You elbowed me in the face, and then spilled coffee on my favourite jacket. What a nice welcome to California!" Any previous reservations he might have had vanished as annoyance began to seep in. "Well, I'm certainly not responsible for any other mishaps that happened to you! Don't you think that's quite judgmental of you?"

Thankfully, Reyna intervened then, because the girl looked just about ready to punch him in the neck, which was probably as high as she could reach. As she stalked out of the shop, Reyna threw him a questioning look. "What?" he said defensively. "Never mind. Anyway, I was thinking we should call a meeting for the new student council tomorrow, you know, just to establish policies and such. There's also a bunch of events that need handling…" "Cool," Jason replied distractedly, his thoughts far away.

 ***peeks in your screen* Hey :) so this is my first fanfiction on this account, and I'll try to update regularly *cough* procrastination *cough* so yeah hope you enjoy it and do tell me any constructive feedback you have**


	2. Thunderstorms

Lightning lit up the dark interior of Piper's room, making her sit up in bed, gasping.

Thunder boomed outside the window as she rubbed her eyes sleepily and groaned when she saw the time on her clock. "6.45am?"

She was tempted to go back to sleep, but she could hear Jane clattering up the stairs, about to call for her anyway. She rolled out of bed, still half-conscious as she brushed her teeth and plucked a grey sweater out of one of the bags of clothes she bought the day before. Her snowboarding sweater was still drying from the coffee incident, and she took one last longing glance at it before lacing some old leather boots on over her jeans and walking downstairs.

Her father was reading the paper, while attempting to simultaneously tie his tie. For all the movie stunts and one-take shots he did, Tristan McLean was unable to tie a tie, a fact that Piper found hilarious. She snatched the tie from his hands and tied it deftly within thirty seconds, handing it back to him with a raised eyebrow. He smiled wryly at her before draining his coffee, dropping a kiss on her forehead and walking out the door. She sighed as she stabbed her fork moodily into her pancakes. _There he was, always a constant blur of leaving._

She hadn't bothered to pack her bag the night before, so she shoved in most of her new textbooks and a pen or two before being hurried out the door by Jane. "It's your first day. You have to be early, to make a good impression."

Piper rolled her eyes in the back seat of the car, watching the raindrops race each other down the window. California looked gloomy in the pouring rain, definitely not all sunshine and fun as her dad had promised when he first told her that they were moving yet again.

Piper saw the grey concrete building in the distance, and felt a sense of panic growing inside her, and felt instantly annoyed. She wrung her hands nervously in her lap as she went through her mental checklist. _Walk to the office, ask for her locker number, proceed to class, eat lunch alone, go to more classes, try not to fall asleep, go home tired and stressed out._ She normally wouldn't bother trying not to fall asleep in class, but it was her final year in high school, and she did want to make it into college. Due to her years of not paying attention in class and mouthing off teachers, she was rather behind. It was a personal, private goal of hers to make it to a college, any college, where she could bunk in and be free to live her life on her own terms.

Suddenly, she spotted a skinny figure huddled under an umbrella, braving the storm as he walked towards the school. The next gust of wind nearly blew the umbrella away, and Piper made a split second decision. "Stop the car."

Jane pulled to a screeching halt as Piper threw open the car door and yelled to make her heard over the rain. "Need a ride?"

The figure hurried over and climbed in gratefully as Piper shifted in to make space. He threw down his hood and grinned at her. "Thanks, _chica_. I was nearly blown away there." It was a Latino boy with pointy ears and a winning smile. He looked down ruefully at the car seat. "Sorry I'm getting water everywhere."

"No, it's okay." The boy immediately whipped out a small bundle of tin foil as began messing around with it, twisting it into an umbrella-shaped figurine. He presented it dramatically to Piper. "From Leo Valdez, a humble gift to remember thee by, of the day she kindly let me into her carriage as a shelter from the merciless rain. For Lady-" he raised his eyebrows questioningly at her. "Piper." "Lady Piper!" he brandished the tiny umbrella dramatically at her. Piper laughed. She liked this kid.

"Thanks," she took the umbrella gingerly from him as the car stopped at the sheltered entrance of the school. They hopped out as the car screeched away. "Do you know where the office is, by any chance?" she asked hopefully.

He pointed to a large set of glass doors around a corner, and she nodded thankfully and set off. She pushed on the doors and shivered as the cold air-conditioning bit at her skin. "Hi," she said to the bespectacled receptionist at the counter. "I'm new here? I was wondering if-"

"Ah, Piper McLean," she drew out a transparent folder with a few envelopes and papers inside. Piper stiffened at the mention of her last name, but the receptionist didn't seem to make the connection. "Grade 12?" Piper nodded mutely. "I'll get one of the student council members to show you around. They're having their meeting inside there now."

She click-clacked her way across the office floor in heels to the oak door marked "Student Council" and knocked before poking her head in. "There's a new student, we need someone to show her the ropes." There was a brief discussion inside, and Piper heard a female voice volunteer for the role. A blonde girl with hair scooped into a messy ponytail walked out and spotted her.

"Annabeth. Head of Training and Curriculum in the student council," her tone was clipped and efficient, which matched her stormy grey eyes. This was not someone Piper wanted to cross. "Piper. Senior."

"I'll give you the official tour around here then," Annabeth walked out, leaving Piper to speed walk after her long strides. "Where'd you come from before this?" "Boston." Annabeth whistled. "That's a long way from here."

"Yeah." They were entering the main corridor now, with lockers lining the sides of it. Annabeth showed Piper the lockers, then the homerooms and the classroom block. "And here's the cafeteria-"

"Annie!" A dark haired boy zoomed past on a skateboard, pecking a kiss on Annabeth's cheek as he did so. "Percy!" she complained. The boy zoomed around the corner, laughter still echoing after him. "Sorry. That's my idiot boyfriend. Actually, he's kind of smart, but don't tell him I said that. It'll make his big head bigger." Piper smiled. "Seems like a nice guy."

"Yeah. Can I see your timetable?" she reached into Piper's folder. Piper hadn't seen the timetable herself, but she could roughly guess which subjects Jane had entered. "Okay, you're taking AP French, Honours English, Psychology, AP Biology, Calculus, Theatre Arts and Creative Writing?" Piper groaned internally. She bet the Theater Arts were her dad's idea. Since she was a kid, he tried to instil his love for acting in her, but years of dealing with her father being a celebrity had put her off it.

It was still raining heavily outside. Annabeth showed her the rest of the school building, though ninety percent of the tour was basically her rattling on about the architecture and building design of the school. Her grey eyes lit up as she described the history behind the school's architecture design. Piper slowly zoned out of the conversation, but focused instead on her animation about the subject, and couldn't help but compare it to her supposed interest in acting. She wondered if this was what it was like to really have a passion in something.

She went through French and Psychology without much fanfare, but she forgot where her classroom for Honors English was and it took her a few wrong turns before she finally made it into the classroom just as the bell rang. There was only one spot left in the third row and she took it, grateful it wasn't in the first row. Then she turned around to her table partner and her stomach dropped. Right next to her was a familiar blond with blue eyes. "You again."

"Me again," Jason agreed. Piper lowered her head into her hands and took a deep breath. For the love of-

Then the teacher walked in, and started handing out papers. "I want you to write a short introduction about yourself. We're going to do a sharing session. The trick is: you have to use at least three good vocabulary words in it." The room was immediately filled with scribbling as the Honours students, probably the pride and joy of Jupiter High, obediently began writing. Piper scrabbled around the bottom of her backpack, and realised that she'd left her pen in Psychology. She swore.

Jason turned to her with an annoyed expression. "Will you just-" "No I will not." Piper scrabbled around again, and gave up. She tried to formulate a short paragraph in her head, but when the teacher came walking around, she stopped beside Piper. "Why, Piper, you've not seemed to have written anything!"

"Err- yeah. About that." Piper tried to come up with an excuse over the top of her head. "I'm new here, as you can see. Back in my school in Boston, we never wrote down our thoughts." "Really?" She nodded vehemently.

"Our teacher said it corrupted the sanctity of thought processing."

She saw movement in the corner of her eye and ignored it, smiling sweetly up at the teacher, who seemed thoroughly unconvinced. "Well, I'll let you off this time, Piper, but generally, in California, we write them down." She walked away and started giving instructions to share their written work with their table partners. Piper sagged in relief.

Then Jason asked in a strangled voice. "What was that?"

She rolled her eyes. "Improvisation," she spied the golden pin on his lapel that marked him as the co-President of the student council. "Going to report me, are you?"

Jason ignored her last remark and raised an eyebrow at her blank sheet of paper. "Let's see if improvisation can help you out here, then." Piper cleared her throat. "I'm Piper. If you antagonize me, I will eviscerate you and get rid of all your appendages. It's cathartic for me."

Jason blinked once or twice. "That was- violently graphic. So you want to disembowel me and get rid of my limbs and it helps provide you why psychological relief?"

"You got an issue with that?"

"… No." "Are you always this boring?"

"You got an issue with that?"

Piper scowled. It wasn't often that someone one-upped her, and she was determined not to break her streak. "What about yours? I bet it's going to be boring and all political, isn't it?"

"Dear God, it's like she knows me already," Jason did an impression of Piper in a ridiculously high-pitched voice, which, in her opinion, was extremely inaccurate. He read from his paper. "I'm Jason Grace. One of the virtues I practice is altruism, even towards cynical or pretentious people who do not appreciate my taking of moral high ground."

"That didn't count. It only had two good vocabulary words. Altruistic and pretentious."

"No, it had cynical."

"That isn't counted."

"Not many people know what it means."

"So your definition of a good vocabulary word is something little people know? That's very pretentious of you," Piper smirked. She had vowed to herself to not talk back to teachers, but no one said anything about student council presidents, did they?

Jason seemed speechless for a second. "You're incorrigible."

"You're most welcome."

The bell rang and Piper shoved everything into her backpack. She was just about ready to leave the room when the teacher called for attention again. "As part of our school's extended learning programme, what you will be learning over the next few weeks will cumulate in a project that will count towards your final grade. We understand that you may not have gotten to know your other classmates really well, so for now you'll just be paired up with your table partner."

Whoops came from all around the room as people started high-fiving each other, but Piper gave Jason one last glare, swung her backpack on and stalked out of the room with her most sour face on.

 **hey! so I've decided that I'll try to update once the next chapter is written (e.g. I'll update Chapter 2 when Chapter 3 is done). let me know what you think in the reviews, constructive criticism is appreciated as always :)**


	3. Family Matters

Jason collapsed on the chair in the student council office during break, flat out exhausted. "What's wrong?" Reyna asked as she entered, immediately setting down her book bag on the polished oak table and starting some paperwork. That was Reyna, dutiful and hardworking.

She could sense his mood from the moment she saw him, which probably came from years of being best friends. Even though he was just sitting on a chair, she could tell from the little things about his posture that something was wrong. To anyone else, he probably looked just the same as always- calm and confident- which was exactly the image he tried to portray.

She, on the other hand, seemed perfectly composed, with not a strand of hair out of place in her braid. "Surely there can't be much to deal with on the first day."

"You're so lucky you're not in my Honours English class, Rey."

"And I would appreciate it if you could explain further," Reyna said, never taking her eyes off her papers. "I'm sat next to the new girl in English. Piper. And I have a graded project with her." He waited for her reaction, maybe some sympathy, but her face was blank. "So? Annabeth took her on the school tour this morning, and she said she was really nice. Pretty, even," she added.

"Oh yeah, she's pretty and all," Jason said in exasperation, not noticing how Reyna's jaw seemed to tighten. " _But she's the girl from the coffee shop yesterday_."

"Oh." Comprehension dawned on her face. "Is she giving you any trouble?"

"Not really, apart from the fact that if I have to sit with her for ten more seconds, I will literally want to eviscerate myself." Reyna gave him a disapproving look. "Manners, Jason Grace." Jason sighed. "Tell me more," she added.

Jason got up and started pacing the office. "She thinks she's so smart, throwing her vocabulary around and outsmarting teachers. She insulted my work in class today. And rudely too-"

"Those aren't valid points, Jason," Reyna interrupted him, looking quite amused. "It seems to me that you're just sore about something that she did better than you." Jason gaped at her. "Reyna! Are you taking her side?"

"Recount to me everything that's happened. Not from a biased viewpoint. Facts." Reyna slide towards him on the swivel chair and crossed her legs. "And do stop pacing, you're giving me a headache."

Reyna burst out laughing as soon as Jason finished recounting his tale. She seemed to turn into a whole different person when she laughed, which wasn't very often. "I would very much like to meet her. Looks like you've finally found someone who can outtalk you."

With Reyna still laughing softly, Jason mumbled "traitor" under his breath and huffed.

…

At around five that day, Thalia was there to pick him up. He would've driven back, but his car was still at the auto repair shop. Jason got onto the back of her motorcycle gingerly as he strapped on a helmet. "Relax, little bro. You've ridden on the back of a motorcycle before, haven't you? And you're still alive!" She slapped his bag as she swung herself on and revved the motorcycle to life. They were soon cruising along the streets of the suburban neighbourhood, with its trim houses and neatly pruned trees. The rain had stopped at some point in the day, and there was no hint of a cloud in the sky. It was also unbearably hot, and he could feel sweat beginning to form on his back.

"Is Father back?"

Even without looking at her face, Jason could sense Thalia's mood darken. "He's out with Hera. They have some business meeting to attend. They said to join them for dinner at the Hilton though."

"Oh." Their father, Zeus Grace, and their stepmother rarely called them to dine with them besides their 'monthly family dinner', which Jason and Thalia dreaded. Other than that, their contact with Zeus and Hera were limited to the rare occasions they returned home from their business trips. They had just returned from one that afternoon, and were due to take another trip the following morning. To be honest, Jason and Thalia were perfectly fine with this arrangement. It gave them free reign and this freedom would last on the condition that they bring back outstanding results. Jason managed this, but Thalia just barely scraped by. They had come very close, on many occasions, to getting a nanny.

They screeched to a stop in front of their terrace a few minutes later, and Jason jumped off as soon as the motorcycle stopped moving, his knees turned to jelly. Ever since his mother died drunk driving in that car accident, he had a fear of being in a vehicle he wasn't driving, especially if it was a car. Jason had been five when that happened, but he'd been in the back seat of that car. He supposed that the fact that his earliest memory had been that of his mother losing control of the car on the icy road and spinning into a ditch had translated into the fear of losing control.

Thalia snapped her fingers in front of him. "You okay little bro?"

Jason nodded quickly, snapping out of it as he grabbed his backpack and hurried up the steps to the front door. The next-door neighbor, Drew, was sunbathing on her lawn, and she winked in what was probably intended to be a sultry manner at him. "Hey Jason. Congratulations! I heard you got elected the president of the student council!"

Jason, who had one hand gripped around the handle of the door, tried to think of a way to escape the situation, before he got stuck talking to her for two hours, because he was too nice to openly turn her down. "Err- yeah. Thanks. I gotta go now- student council stuff." Then he fled indoors, hearing Thalia's laughter echoing after him.

He checked his email after showering, making sure to draw his curtains beforehand. Drew had been known to watch him from her kitchen window, which she'd done on multiple occasions. He saw that their English teacher had sent out the task sheet for the assignment for Honors English class. He scanned it briefly, noting the key components. _Create a poster from scratch on the importance of a current societal issue, along with a 5000-word write up on the issue._

He decided that the task of finding out Piper's phone number was too tedious, so he clicked on the drop down box and found her email instead.

 _To: justpiper_

 _From: jasongrace0107_

 _Subject: English Assignment_

 _Dear Piper_

 _I believe you have received the email regarding our assignment. Would you like to split up the workload in this manner- I will do the write up, and you can do the poster? As for the topic- would you like to discuss this tomorrow? Please reply as soon as possible._

 _Jason_

He reread the email again, and decided to do away with the 'dear'. Should he put a 'regards' in the end? Or was it too formal? Should he put a 'sincerely' instead? Why was he so fixated on this anyway? He'd spent less time reviewing an email sent to more important organisations. He clicked send.

Come seven in the evening, Jason stood at the front doors of the private room his father had booked at the Hilton Hotel. His neck itched. The tie was too tight. Thalia had deigned to put on clean jeans for the occasion, but that was about as far as she would go. She was still wearing her Fall Out Boy shirt and her bomber jacket, and her hair was still sticking up in all directions.

One of his father's assistants listened intently to a small walkie-talkie and nodded at Jason. Jason took a deep breath and knocked on the door. He shouldn't feel this nervous about meeting his father and stepmother, but then again, who wouldn't feel nervous meeting the head of a giant business empire and whose every whim controlled your future?

"Enter." The gravelly voice of Zeus echoed from the room as Jason and Thalia entered the room. Their footsteps were silent on the carpeted floor as Zeus nodded at them. Hera's regal face was a mask as she stared impassively at them. She was wearing a brilliant green and purple dress, which Jason privately thought made her look like a peacock.

"Sit," he instructed the two of them as the waiters began to pour red wine (the finest quality, of course) into Zeus and Hera's glasses. Thalia ordered a Coke, much to the open disapproval of the two adults. Jason sipped at his sparkling water, waiting for Zeus to say something.

"It has come to our attention that the two of you have reached a very important stage in each of your lives. Thalia," he turned to her. Thalia, who had absolutely no fear, stared right back at him. Jason wondered how she did it. "You are studying Women's Studies at the University of California, Davis, right?" The slight undertone to his voice indicated exactly what he thought of the university and the course she'd chosen to major in.

"Yeah." Thalia raised her chin defiantly, as if daring him to continue. "Have you thought of what you'd like to pursue in the future?"

"Woman's rights activist."

Zeus nearly spit out his wine. Hera handed him a napkin, glancing coldly at Thalia. "You want to become a _woman's rights activist_."

"I think I made that clear enough the first time." Thalia's tone was icy. Zeus heaved a sigh. "We'll talk about this later. Jason," he turned to the younger boy. "You'll be entering university next year."

"Yes, Father." Jason twisted his fingers nervously in his lap. "Have you thought of what university you would like to go to?"

"Not really." "Well with your grades," he glanced pointedly at Thalia, who promptly ignored him, "you could make it to Berkeley. How does that sound? Maybe Economics or Political Science."

"I guess." Jason didn't really know what to say. "Good, good," Zeus signalled to one of the waiters to start serving dinner. Jason poked around at his fish, which suddenly looked very unappetising. "I also want the both of you to start thinking about marriage."

Both Jason and Thalia choked. Even Hera looked apprehensive. "They're just children, dear. They're too young." "Fine," Zeus said mutinously. "But you've got to start building up a public profile. Especially Jason. I'd like to hand my businesses over to you one day. Start building up good relationships beforehand and then you won't have to worry about finding a wife later on, so you can focus on your studies and work. Having a good support early on is important."

Jason and Thalia had to make a considerable amount of effort not to snort and state the obvious- he clearly hadn't establish a 'good support' early on. Jason and Thalia were the evidences of it. Hera was looking like someone had stuck something rotten under her nose, which was the expression she assumed every time someone brought up the subject of Beryl. After all, it wasn't very flattering when your husband cheats on you twice with another woman.

Thalia interrupted his train of thoughts with an abrupt declaration. "I don't want to get married anytime soon."

Zeus did spit out his wine this time, staining the tablecloth purple-red. "My only daughter-" He started coughing. Thalia sat there, her spine erect and her gaze so steely it could have matched Zeus' own. He regained his composure. "You're young, Thalia. You never know what might happen if you meet the right man. You'll change your mind soon enough."

Thalia was about to open her mouth to say more, but was halted by a warning glance from Hera, and also by the vein throbbing in Zeus' temple. Jason didn't dare to move a muscle. He could literally feel the tension in the air like electricity. It felt as if there were livewires scattered around the room, and one wrong move could get you fried. The dinner was finished with no more comment.

Zeus and Hera stood from the table at around nine, and declared that they would stay at the hotel that night as they had a flight to catch early the next morning. They left the room, and it felt as if a weight had been lifted off their chests, at least until the next month.

Jason and Thalia released a collective breath of relief.

 **hey! sorry for the slight delay I just read The Amazing Book Is Not On Fire and the first book in the Magnus Chase series so I'm suffering from a post-really-good-book-now-I-have-nothing-to-read syndrome where I just lie on the floor and stare at my books. oh well I'm just going to casually reread the entire Heroes of Olympus series and tear my heart out in the process**


	4. Amazing Grace

"Beauty Queen!" Leo's voice called out to her as she shoved her books into her locker.

He'd taken to calling her that since the day before, when he invited her to the lunch table he sat at with his friends. It was a pleasant change from sitting alone at a table near the trashcans, which was what usually happened on first days, when no one knew you and you either skipped lunch altogether or braced the stares in the cafeteria. At any rate, she was glad that she'd offered Leo that ride.

He was attempting to swagger down the hallway, failing miserably as he tripped halfway. "Hey," she smiled as she tried to keep the books in the shelves of her locker from falling out. It wasn't an easy task, given that the metal grid shelves in the school lockers were flimsy and couldn't support much weight. The books kept toppling out of place. "Help me out here, will you?"

Leo gave her a lopsided grin. "That I can fix." He pulled out what looked like modified versions of pliers and screwdrivers and began fiddling around with it. Barely thirty seconds later, he patted the shelf proudly. "All done."

Piper gingerly placed her books on it and was amazed that they stayed upright. "Cool, right? I changed the wire arrangement for it."

"Do you run a mechanical shop or something?" Piper made it as a lighthearted comment, but Leo nodded. "Part time at Hephaestus' Repair. My momma used to work with me there." Piper noted the phrase 'used to'. She smacked his arm gently. "I'd like to check it out. I've got a few things that need repairing."

"Thanks. You know, when people find out I work part time at a repair garage, they don't usually stay to find out more." Piper felt an inexplicable surge of sadness for this thin Latino boy. People weren't as willing to tease a physically disabled person, but the small things that made one person's life so different from others were so easy to ostracise. Funny how it was only the obvious things, which couldn't be ignored, that were sympathised by others, not those hid behind facades or not immediately visible.

"What do you have today?" Piper peeked at Leo's schedule. A crowd of tall jocks crowded past noisily, shoving at each other and yelling. Piper found them unbearably immature. It was no wonder that movies always portrayed teenage boys as generally rowdy. It was a stereotype, but then again there was a reason why stereotypes were stereotypes in the first place.

"We have Calculus together after lunch!" she observed. "Yay. Calculus. My favourite subject," Leo intoned sarcastically.

Piper reached her Honours English class and bid him farewell before entering the classroom and bumping headfirst into a toned chest. She also noticed that the cologne the person had on was very pleasant, not too heady. She blushed red and was stammering out an apology when she looked up into the person's face and abruptly stopped. Why did it always have to be _him._

"Piper."

"Jason." She pushed past him as he exited the classroom, thumping down onto her chair. Of course Jason was early for the first period class, and his stationary was already set neatly along the sides of the desk. Piper had to restrain the urge to push the neatly stacked pens off the edge of the desk.

At the second half of the lesson, the teacher, who had apparently gotten too tired to teach, instructed them to carry out a pair discussion on their project as she leaned back into the chair at the teacher's table and knocked back a huge mug of coffee. Jason turned to Piper, his eyebrows furrowed. "Could you try to be more proactive on group work?"

Piper barely looked up from the five pointed stars she was doodling on her worksheet. "Not like you've done anything either."

"I have!" he exclaimed. "I sent you an email about the work divide."

Piper burst out laughing. Jason seemed affronted. "Okay, if you're not going to take this project seriously-"

"My God," Piper raised an eyebrow at him. "You still use that ancient thing? How quaint."

"How else do I contact people for school-related issues?" Piper looked at him incredulously. "Ever heard of texting, Grandpa?"

Jason seemed to ignore the fact that she'd just insulted him. "It's informal. Also, girls always take it the wrong way when I ask them for their numbers for projects. And they keep texting me even after the project ends."

Piper shook her head at him. "Well, if you want to contact me quickly, text me. I almost never check my email." Jason seemed to consider this for a moment. "And I won't even have a reason to text you after this project ends anyway." "Alright." He wrote his number on the corner of her worksheet in his careful handwriting. She was about to do the same on his when he stopped her.

"What?" she asked as he felt around in his bag before retrieving a small leather-bound book. Piper started to laugh helplessly again.

"Really, Jason? A contact book?"

…

"And then I had to fill in my name, house and phone number and even my freaking date of birth," Piper was still wiping away tears of laughter as she recalled this incident to Lacy and Katie, who frequently occupied the table she sat at.

"Presenting our student body's president," Katie laughed to reveal pearly white teeth. Leo sat down on the bench next to her. "'Sup, ladies. Guess what Uncle Leo heard in the corridors?"

Lacy, who always loved a good gossip, leaned forward eagerly. "Apparently, Tristan McLean moved into our neighbourhood recently!"

Piper's stomach dropped. If anyone found out who she was, all those awful stereotypes would start rolling in. She doubted she would have any real friends after that, just like the time in Wyoming when the entire school found out she was Tristan McLean's daughter, and all her friends drew back immediately, as they felt the strain between the social classes ("How are we supposed to compare to that?") and the other girls becoming jealous and some even doing petty things out of spite. All in all, she did not have a good year. This was precisely the reason why she never told anyone her last name.

"Ooh!" Lacy intertwined her fingers. "Tristan McLean is literally one of my favourite movie stars, period. He just looks so good…" she drifted off as she caught sight of Piper's nauseous expression. "You okay?"

"Err- yeah. Just kind of weird since he's middle aged and stuff?"

"Meh," Lacy batted her comments away. "It's the looks that count. Have you seen that jawline? And don't get me started on his cheekbones. He has a daughter, you know," she added. "She must be so pretty." Piper upset her bottle of juice over her sandwich.

"Piper, are you sure you're alright?" Katie looked at her in concern. Piper's head was bent over her ruined lunch as she quickly mopped up the spilt juice with her napkins. "You seem very out of sorts today." Piper struggled to find an excuse. "Must be the flu," Leo put in. "It's spreading around our school. Piper was grateful for this comment and seized upon her chance. "Yeah. Maybe I'll take some pills when I get home."

"Drama at ten o' clock," Lacy suddenly whispered. "No, don't look now! Leo, that's so obvious." Leo's neck had shot up at her comment and he lowered it slowly, looking embarrassed. Out of the corner of her eye, Piper saw a slim Asian girl in ringlets with both hands on Jason's shoulders, whispering something in his ear. Jason looked unaffected, but Piper caught sight of Reyna's murderous glares at the girl. "Who's that?"

"Drew Tanaka. Resident queen bee of Jupiter High- at least, she would be if her GPA matched her looks," Lacy sniffed. "She gives everyone on the cheerleading squad a bad rep."

"Reyna sure doesn't look happy," Piper noted. "Of course not. It's quite obvious to everyone that she's had a crush on Jason for like, _forever_ ," Katie smiled. "Kind of cute, actually, but Jason is the most obtuse person on earth."

Jason was politely declining whatever Drew was offering, though Drew seemed to take it as 'playing-hard-to-get', and continued smiling and batting her eyelashes at him. Her eyes were coated with so much eye shadow that every time she blinked, her lashes seemed to throw off little sparks of pink glitter. "Gross," Piper returned to her juice. "How can anyone like Jason Grace?"

Three pairs of eyes stared at her incredulously. "You too, Leo?"

"I mean- there's no reason for people _not_ to like him," Leo said defensively. "Good hair, good looks, good grades, charming personality-" "Jason Grace does not have a charming personality," Piper interrupted. "He's rude, blunt, academically driven to a fault, jumps to conclusions too quickly and is about as interesting as a doorknob.

"How would you know that? You've only just moved here," Lacy jumped to Jason's defence. "I'm partnered with him for a project in English class. Also, he made quite the impression on me when he spilt coffee on my jacket last weekend. He wasn't- pardon the pun- gracious about that," Piper smiled grimly.

"Really?" Katie's eyebrows flew skyward. "Jason is really well-liked here precisely because he's gracious and kind, not to mention down-to-earth. He's the most approachable member of the student council this year. Can't say the same for Reyna," she shuddered. "I'm terrified of her. Don't know how Drew can still continue flirting with Jason with that glare on her."

"If you ask me, Reyna is the only one who has half a chance of getting with him," Lacy mused. "They've apparently known each other since they were little."

"Hasn't he dated anyone his whole life?" Leo laughed. "Yeah he has. He never stays with them for more than a month. Interestingly enough, it's always the girl who breaks it off. They always say that he doesn't take them seriously enough."

"Told you he has a bad personality," Piper mumbled. Lacy shook his head. "Not that he has a bad personality. I think they just don't click, or maybe the relationship wasn't going smoothly." "Does he expect them to be flawless or something?" Piper asked sarcastically. "His expectations are too high."

"Ladies," Leo interrupted. "Look, I'd love to continue talking about 'Amazing Grace', but we literally have two minutes to the bell." As they were leaving the cafeteria, Piper glanced back at Jason's table, where Drew had finally left, and Reyna spread her folders on the table and was in earnest discussion with Jason, Annabeth and some other student council members. She wondered if anything in Jason's life was ever less than perfect.

…

Piper was waiting for Jane to pick her up at the school's foyer, where there were comfy sofas scattered around. It was around three and the crowd of students moving out of the school had thinned considerably. She was in a slightly bad mood that day- her Calculus teacher had returned a quiz they did the day before. She was apparently slightly rusty in Math after a long holiday, which was reflected in the large red F on her paper. It wouldn't have been that bad, except that the teacher then proceeded to read out the grades of every single member of the class, from top to bottom. Needless to say, she wasn't enjoying a very good reputation.

Her phone buzzed on the couch next to her. It was a text message from Jason. _Can we choose a topic for the English project? I'd like to get started on it ASAP._

She rolled her eyes. Why was academics so emphasised on in this school? In nearly every other school she'd been to, the worse your grades, the better your reputation. She vaguely recalled her father saying something about how this was a prestigious school, as everyone who got in either had to be rich or talented in a specific area.

She texted back a reply. _Sure. You got any ideas?_

Her phone buzzed again a few minutes later, but she saw Jane's car pull up the driveway. She bounded towards the car and she opened the door and felt her jaw drop.

"Dad!" she shut the car door and hugged him in the privacy of the tinted windows. He hugged her back, but gently disengaged her a few moments later. His face was serious and a little strained. He suddenly looked very much his age. Had he always had those lines on his face?

"What's wrong?" Piper asked warily.

"Pipes," her father began. "What do you know about your mother?"

 _I had no idea what to name this chapter so I just went aha "AMAZING GRACE"! as always, tell me what you think of it in the reviews, I'd love to hear feedback! Constructive criticism is welcome :) you can also ask me any questions you have pertaining to the story in the reviews, and I'll try to answer them!_


	5. Sleepless Nights

Piper couldn't believe it.

After sixteen years of no contact whatsoever, she was back. Not only was she back, she was back and asking for Piper.

Her memories of her mother were foggy- a hint of jasmine, and long silky hair. Piper's memory was sharper than most, but even then she couldn't remember the exact details of her mother's face, and her father never brought her up again.

 _"_ _Didn't you have to love someone else to have me?" little Piper asked her father, swinging her legs as father and daughter sat on a brick wall overlooking the valley in Milwaukee. It was a warm summer night, and stars were splashed across the sky. "You're my world, Pipes, I don't need to love anyone else."_

Now, though, her father had abruptly brought news that her mother was in California for work related issues, and wanted to meet Piper for tea two weeks later to 'catch up'. "Why now? Why after so many years?" The car was purring across the busier part of town, with glass and steel office blocks lining the streets, along with retail malls. Outside a huge boutique, a mother held the hand of a girl licking an ice cream as they strolled along the streets. Piper's eyes stung slightly, as it always did when she saw things like this.

"Beats me," Tristan McLean shrugged. The car pulled up in front of a tall office block. "Gotta go. Catch you later," he disappeared into the building. _Yeah, I'll see you much, much later._

She didn't know how to feel about this. Should she feel happy that she was finally reuniting with her mother? Upset that she only decided to contact her after all these years? Above all, she felt confused. She didn't need yet another factor to mess up her life. She almost wished her mother had not returned. _Couldn't she have stayed far, far away, where she couldn't do any more damage to her life?_ Growing up motherless was as hard as reintroducing a mother into a child's life.

She tossed and turned on her bed later that night. It was very warm, and sweat drenched her back as she struggled to find a cool spot on her pillow. Unsettling thoughts kept racing across her mind as she stared at the ceiling in the dark. She glanced at her alarm clock. 2 a.m.

Piper made a decision. She had never done this before, but there was a first time for everything. Besides, it wasn't like she had a curfew or anything. She didn't make good enough friends in her previous schools that would call her up at wee hours of the morning and persuade her to sneak out to parties, just like she saw teens in movies do. Jane had gone home for the night, and her father was probably too tired to be stirred from his sleep.

Piper slipped out of bed and dressed quietly, pulling on a pair of tattered old jeans and sneakers. Snatching a copy of 'Pride and Prejudice' from her bedside table (contrary to popular belief, she loved books), she decided to bring her wallet with her if the need to use it arose, though she doubted it. She pulled her hair into a ponytail as she stepped out of the house, locking the door quietly behind her, not bothering with her usual braids.

The streets were empty at this time at night. In other neighbourhoods, there might have been street thugs roaming the streets, or lurking in the alleys, but there was no sign of movement here. Which was good, because she needed time to clear her head. She inhaled a lungful of the clean night air, free from daytime pollution.

She walked for few blocks, before entering the part of the neighbourhood where there was a street of shops. Most of them had shut down for the night, but a small 24-hour café at the end of the street remained open, its neon signboard advertising coffee and croissants. _Why not?_

The bells on the door jangled as she pushed on it. The café was occupied by a few customers- two middle-aged ladies with curly hair sat in a corner, sipping tea and laughing as their curls bounced on their shoulders; a man quite tall and burly, in workman's clothes, reading the paper and an old lady with boxes of laundry eating a mince pie.

Piper sat at a booth and studied the menu, which seemed to only consist of pies, coffee, tea, brownies and croissants. A girl with shoulder-length spiky hair and multiple ear piercings came to her table with a notepad and pen. The name on her tag read 'Thalia'.

"'Sup, kid. We don't see teenagers around here very often," Thalia's bright blue eyes seemed very familiar. "I could say the same of you," Piper replied, then immediately mentally slapped herself for mouthing off a girl who could probably beat her up. Instead, Thalia laughed as she slapped Piper on the back. "Nice one, kid. I like your spunk." Piper released a breath she'd been holding.

"I come here to earn extra bucks. Not that I don't have enough, but my father won't give me any if he heard that I was using it for woman's rights campaigns." Piper liked her immediately. "You could say he's a right pain in the-"

"Piper?"

Jason Grace stood behind Thalia, his arms full of what looked like practice papers. He looked equally as shocked as she felt. "What do you think you're doing here?" His tone was almost angry and definitely accusatory, as if she came there on purpose.

"Having a meal. What do _you_ think you're doing here?" Piper retorted.

Thalia watched their back-and-forth with narrowed eyes. "Hold up, Jason. Is this the famous Piper who sits next to you in Honors English and is your partner on the English project, whom you also happened to spill coffee over?"

Piper reddened slightly and answered before Jason could open his mouth. "Yeah, I would be the Piper. How many horrifying stories about me have you heard from him?"

"Tons," Thalia said cheerfully. "I'm very impressed, I must say. Pleased to meet you, I'm his sister." Piper could see the resemblance in the blue eyes, but other than that, they were nothing alike. Jason was clean cut, always in iron and pressed shirts, while Thalia was more like the kind of girl to rob you at knifepoint on a highway.

"Anyway, you're a customer here, and I'm giving you a free brownie because you're my dear brother's friend." "We're not friends," Jason and Piper said in unison. Thalia's eyes glittered, as if she knew something they didn't. "Cute." She disappeared into the kitchen door behind the counter before either of them could say anything.

Jason stood awkwardly at the table, with Piper refusing to make eye contact. He rocked back and forth on the balls of his feet. "So… can I sit here?" Piper nodded grudgingly. "I guess so."

Jason slipped into the seat across from her and started scribbling as he punched in numbers on his calculator. Ugh, how she hated Calculus. Piper opened her book and started to read, but looked up after a while to find Jason's blue eyes fixed on her quizzically. "What?" she asked irritably as she pushed a few stray hairs away from her eyes.

He was direct to the point. "What are you doing out here so late at night?"

"I'll tell you if you tell me," Piper challenged him. Jason seemed to mull over it for a moment, but curiosity eventually got the better of him. "Deal."

"I couldn't sleep because of some- ah- issues, so I took a walk and ended up here," Piper looked around at the café. "Not the worst place to end up, I suppose."

"What issues?"

Piper weighed the pros and cons of telling him, decided to. Heck, her life was upside down anyway. "I just found out my mom, whom I haven't seen since I was one, is in the country and is asking for me." From there, everything just sort of spilled out. "My father raised me from young, but he wasn't the most present father. He was, but circumstances change. I never had a mom from when I was one. I don't even remember her. How am I supposed to just take her back into my life like nothing happened? What does one even say? 'Hi, you've never been there for me, but you're still my mother so I'm duty-bound to hang around you from now on'? Does she think she can just march back into my life? Oh gods, what if she decides to take me away from my father? I'm not leaving him. Who does she think she is?" Piper slammed her fist down on the table, making Jason jump.

"Got a bit out of control there," Piper finally calmed down, and was amazed to find that she felt much better. Jason, who'd been silent through her entire tirade, smiled knowingly. "It feels better to let it all out, doesn't it?" She rolled her eyes, but it did feel much, much better. She smiled tightly at him, still not ready to let her guard down completely.

"Brownie for you, Piper, and Jason, I'm giving you a croissant for free because you're my baby brother," Thalia smirked at him and ruffled his hair when he tried to protest. In Piper's opinion, he looked much better with mussed up hair. Not that he even looked good in the first place, she told herself.

When Thalia was out of earshot, Piper cocked her head expectantly at Jason as she took a bite of her brownie, which was delicious. "Spill, Grace. What brings you here at night?"

Jason hesitated for a moment. "Do me a favor and not mention this to anyone else." Piper, who was curious in spite of herself, crossed her heart in response. "Whatever goes on here," she gestured between the two of them, "stays here."

"Done." Piper gestured for him to continue.

"So for about a year now, I've been having issues with sleeping. Call it insomnia, but basically I can't fall asleep. So I come to the café to study and stuff, until about four, then I go back to sleep." He was calm, clear and direct, with no rambling or outbursts unlike Piper. She had to admit that it took a certain amount of bravery to be able to speak out like that, and to confront it so bluntly- she grudgingly admired it. _Maybe Jason Grace isn't so bad after all._

"Anyway, now that we're both here, we can get a head start on our English project!" he added. Piper immediately took back her earlier thoughts and scowled at him. "Are you always this enthusiastic about work?" He didn't take the bait. "I just want a good GPA."

"A good GPA isn't all there is to life, Jason."

"But you need good grades to get into a university of your choice. The better your grades, the wider your options," Jason sounded as though he was repeating this from a memorised script. "Your high school years are supposed to be the part of your life where you discover new things and learn about the world. If you're so engrossed in studying, you're going to graduate thinking 'Man, I missed out on so much. I wished I'd been smart and listened to Piper when I had the chance'."

"There are other opportunities for that." He sounded less sure now, though.

"No same opportunity comes by twice. If you don't seize the moment and do what it is that you want to do- you may be living with a lifetime of regrets. Personally, I don't want to be sitting alone and miserable in a rocking chair at age ninety and be reminiscing all the things I should have done but didn't do."

Jason paused for a long moment. "That was very wise."

"You're welcome. Now, don't disturb or bother me about the project again, because I want to live without regretting not having finished this brownie."

Jason laughed, a startled sort of laugh that made Piper smile at him in surprise. "Go ahead then. Eat your brownie. Don't regret it."

They sat in silence, Piper reading and Jason working on his algebra, though with much less gusto than before, as if he had taken her words to heart. She wondered if it was a good thing to tell the president of the student council to be less serious about work.

At about four in the morning, Piper stood up and stretched. "I've got to go before my dad wakes up. Who knows, maybe I'll even get two hours of sleep in before school starts."

"I'm walking you back," Jason said in a true gentlemanly fashion that made her resist the impulse to roll her eyes. "It's not safe for a girl to walk alone in the streets in the middle of the night, after all." Piper looked at him questioningly. "Are you implying that I can't take care of myself?"

Jason stuttered as he groped for an explanation, but insisted on accompanying her anyway. They made small talk as they walked, and when they reached Piper's street, they stopped. Piper held out her hand. "Huh?"

"We probably got off to a bad start, but I guess we aren't exactly enemies now. Shake on that?" Jason, with a look of utter bemusement, shook her hand. She turned to walk away, still sensing his eyes on her. When she got about five meters away, she turned back to look him in the eye. "Just so you know, Grace, this does _not_ mean in any way that we are friends."

She could sense him smiling in the dark. "Of course not."

hello! thank you for all your lovely reviews so far I'm glad you're enjoying it :) do continue to give feedback in places you feel are lacking I'll do my best to improve it (◡‿◡✿) not sure if you can see that thing I just put there it's a smiley thing with a flower haha enjoy your day be nice to strangers stay hydrated take care of yourself bye xx


	6. Tentative Reconciliation

The two weeks seemed to fly by for Piper.

She got settled into the routine of Jupiter High pretty quickly. In fact, it was the school that she got settled into the fastest. She became fast friends with Leo, Katie and Lacy, as well as a girl she sat next to in her Psychology class, Hazel Levesque. Piper found her cool because she could seamlessly understand psychology and was fierce for her size.

It was rare for someone to be shorter than Piper was, but Hazel was exactly five feet tall and Piper rejoiced in the fact that she wasn't the shortest senior in the school. They got along like a house on fire and were sharing inside jokes within a day of first meeting. All in all, you could say it was a pretty good start to the term.

But as the days sped by, she found herself more and more nervous at the looming prospect of meeting her mother again. Would she like Piper? How would she look like? Did she miss her? Come Friday afternoon, Piper was a nervous wreck. She was so jumpy that during Honours English, the last class for that day, Jason finally snapped after she spent half an hour drumming ceaselessly on the table with her pencil. "I'm trying to concentrate! What is up with you?"

"I'm meeting my mom today."

His expression softened immediately and he was momentarily at a loss for words. "Well, good luck then," he said at last. "I hope it goes smoothly, for your sake."

School ended at half past three that day. Jane was picking her up at four for her appointment with her mother at half past four, which she had arranged via her father at a teahouse in the swankier part of town. Once school ended, Piper rushed to a bathroom in a relatively deserted part of school to change in privacy. For the first time in her life, Piper was conscious of her appearance. As she tugged on the hem of the black cutaway dress, she wished that she had brought a longer dress. Her father had gotten one of his wardrobe assistants to pick out a dress for her, seeing Piper's obvious reluctance to be seen shopping for a dress.

She valiantly tried to tug on her hair with a brush and tried to untangle the rat nests in her hair to no avail. She regretted not ever using conditioner in her whole life (not that she was going to start anytime soon)- her hair was dry and the ends were split. The small braids she usually put in her hair seemed too informal for this occasion. Piper stuck her hair in a braid (that hopefully helped to cover the bad hair) and left the bathroom before she could pick out any more flaws in her appearance.

She slammed the door of her locker shut as she retrieved her bag- and heard a loud _thump_ at the other end of the hallway. Piper instinctively hurried over to see boxes worth of papers scattered all over the floor in front of a locker filled with boxes, its door swinging open. Reyna Ramirez-Arellano knelt on the floor, trying to slot the papers back into the boxes. Piper immediately knelt down to help.

"Hello," the female president of the student council sounded surprised. "Piper, right?"

Piper nodded mutely as she continued sorting the papers. Being in Reyna's presence was enough to strike anyone dumb due to the sheer air of aristocracy she seemed to be radiating. Even bending down scrabbling for papers, she still looked elegant and composed, a look Piper knew she would not be ever able to pull off.

When the papers were packed back into the boxes, Piper automatically picked up two boxes to help her transport them, despite the other girl's light protests. They were astoundingly heavy. Piper could barely lift two without her arms aching, and Reyna had been carrying four when she dropped them. "Don't you have to go home, or at least to some co-curricular activity?" Reyna asked.

"My- err- aunt is picking me up in about ten minutes. I've still got a little time." Piper cringed at the thought of Jane being her actual aunt, but she couldn't risk calling Jane by 'my father's assistant' here. It would raise too many unwanted questions.

"How have you been enjoying Jupiter High so far?" Reyna asked. "I would have greeted you personally, but forgive me- it has been a busy few weeks." She spoke in such a formal tone that Piper couldn't help feeling intimidated. Add that to the physical aspect of walking next to Reyna- her tall, slim figure next to Piper's short one; Reyna's immaculate braid next to Piper's hasty, clumsily tied knotted hair; Reyna's perfect posture and Piper's slouch as she struggled to prop up the boxes; and Reyna's clipped accent and Piper's occasional stutter. No wonder all her friends were terrified of her.

"Not bad." She found that she actually meant it. Jupiter High had not been as horrible as she'd expected, but then again nothing could've compared to Wyoming. She still wasn't ready to completely let her guard down.

"I've heard quite a fair bit about you," Reyna smiled as they put the last of the boxes onto the shelves in a closet at the back of the gymnasium. Piper nodded knowingly, but her curiosity was piqued. "From dearest Jason, I presume. You must not have quite the good impression of me."

"On the contrary, I quite admire your resilience. As far as I know, no girl who has met Jason Grace has managed to resist him for more than five minutes. You've driven him quite far up the wall, too." "My pleasure. It's not my fault he has a pride like glass and a sense of humour like a rock, after all."

Reyna laughed lightly as she closed the closet door. Piper checked the time on her phone and belatedly realised that Jane, with her precise punctuality, would probably reach in about two minutes. She hastily bade Reyna goodbye as she strode out of the gym towards the staircase, but ran headfirst into Jason, who was walking with a bunch of other boys from the football team. Piper rubbed her head resentfully. "This needs to stop before it becomes a tradition."

Jason looked at her and suddenly seemed flustered as he took in her outfit. "Woah- I mean- err- I thought you were going to see your mother?" He tried to look anywhere but at her. Piper laughed to herself. Jason might be as boring and obtuse as a rock, but he was still a teenage boy. "Yeah. I'm leaving now."

"Good look- I mean luck. Yeah, good luck." Piper rolled her eyes at him as she walked away, not seeing his friends shoving and teasing him. She did, however, see a gaggle of cheerleaders come round the corner, headed by Drew Tanaka. And she was glaring right at her. In spite of herself, Piper had to try not to gulp.

"Polly, right?"

"Actually, it's-" "It doesn't matter. Just like your existence. You're new here, so I'll let you off this time. You need to familiarise yourself with the ground rules here, hon. Rule number one- _no one touches Jason_." Her index finger was jabbed into Piper's chest, and she was looking right down her nose at Piper, who'd never hated her height that viciously before.

"Drew. Don't you have somewhere else to be?" A cold female voice echoed down the corridor. "This is none of your business, Reyna."

Reyna smiled coldly, and in that moment Piper decided that she never ever wanted to be on her bad side. The entire corridor seemed to freeze over as she glanced contemptuously at Drew. "I invoked your rights as cheerleading captain for student harassment once- do I need to do it again?"

Drew clearly decided that her reputation was more important than threatening Piper at that moment, so she pushed past Piper and hissed, "You won't be so lucky next time. Reyna won't always be here to save your hide."

"Thanks," Piper straightened her dress, her fingers fidgeting around the hem. "We girls must look out for one another," Reyna smiled a tired kind of smile that made Piper wonder how long she'd been standing in the doorway of the gym.

Jane's car pulled up in the roundabout of a pastel blue teahouse, which was surrounded by a garden of blooming flowers, even though it was autumn. A butler immediately opened the car door for her as she stepped out. An assistant clad in salmon pink rushed forward to greet her and usher her past the rotating glass doors into the ornate lobby with expensive looking marble flooring. Women in shawls and high heels sat around the reception, looking haughty as they conversed with each other. Piper heard snatches of conversation revolving around "extra insurance", "too little cars" and a "casual trip to the Bahamas" that made her wonder what kind of woman her mother had to be to choose this kind of place for a meeting. Couldn't she have chosen a meeting at a regular café?

The assistant ushered her to the reception. "Good afternoon. Have you booked a slot here this afternoon?" She didn't seem at all fazed that Piper was only a teenager. "Err- I don't know. I'm Piper; I don't know if-" "Piper McLean?" the receptionist inquired as Piper's heart skipped a beat. The receptionist seemed used to it, as if daughters of famous movie stars came to dine here every day. "Yes."

"Daffodil Room. I will have someone escort you up. Will that be all?" Piper nodded mutely as the receptionist rang a bell and another assistant hurried forward to take her up.

Piper could hear her heart beating loudly in her chest as she climbed the sweeping staircase up to the second floor. The assistant pushed on the first door down the corridor, marked with a pressed daffodil. Piper felt a flash of nerves- _no, I'm not ready_ \- and relaxed when she realised that it was an entrance room the actual terrace. The assistant nodded at her and left, and Piper gathered her wits and knocked softly on the door.

"Come in!" a silvery voice called. Piper entered to find a large room with a round table in the middle, piled high with all sorts of delicacies. There were two chairs around the table, and on the chair on the right sat the most beautiful woman Piper had ever seen.

Piper wasn't saying this because the woman was her mother, but she had fair hair (which Piper had always wanted) tumbling freely to her waist, a heart-shaped face with elegant cheekbones and Piper's own multicoloured eyes. They flashed blue as the woman set down her teacup and stood, her long skirts swishing around her ankles. She was willowy and ethereal, and the single thought that was running through Piper's mind was how she'd ended up so short with such tall parents.

"Piper." Her mother held out her arms like she wanted a hug, but Piper did not oblige. After all, this was the woman who abandoned her father and her when she was one. They sat down at opposite ends of the table. Her mother studied her face intently. Piper felt vaguely uncomfortable. "You've grown so much. You've become so beautiful, Piper." She seemed to blink back tears, probably not to ruin her perfect mascara. "I wish I'd been there to see you grow up."

"So why didn't you?" she blurted out.

A shadow passed over her mother's face. "Politics… family pride… those are dangerous things. I was promised to a man I didn't even know existed till I was twenty-two. If I'd stayed with you any longer, you might have been in danger too." Piper uncrossed her arms, but she still kept her guard up.

"I owe you a lot of explanations, and I will give them to you. It took me quite a bit of time to locate you. But it turns out Tristan McLean made it quite big- a Google search could have sufficed," her mother dimpled. Piper still felt a knot of resentment in her chest.

"Why now?" Piper asked, bitterness seeping into her tone. Memories came rushing back- no mom to pick her up from school or cook her meals or help her figure out life in her first few years as a teenager. The kids at preschool used to tease her because of her skin colour. Piper lost it one day when a boy called out "maybe your skin was so dark that your mom got a shock and left you!" She could hear the echo of laughter all around the playground in her ears till this very day. She was sent home for pushing that boy off the swing and twisting his arm in the process, but she didn't regret it one bit.

Her mother seemed at a momentary loss of words. At last she said quietly, "I know you think it's hard for you to simply take a mother back into your life," (Piper would never admit that it was exactly what she'd been thinking), "but please consider how it is equally as hard for a mother to take a child back into her life."

Piper still refused to meet her eyes. "It's not easy to not have a second parental figure in your life." "Of course it isn't. So if you will allow me the chance-" Piper did meet her mother's eyes then- "could we start over?" The pleading tone of her voice, the texture so similar to her own, finally broke her out of her hard shell. "Alright. But don't expect me be all mushy and soft on you immediately." Piper took the opportunity to bite into a frosted cupcake, which actually tasted delicious.

"So let's start over," her mother smiled. "We have so much to catch up on."

 _this fic won't focus entirely on romance btw because Piper and Jason are such interesting characters and I feel that so much could be developed from their personalities and backgrounds so yep I hope you like this new chapter and do tell me any areas of improvement you have for me in the reviews! also this year I'm joining NaNoWriMo so if anyone else is joining please PM me on how it works haha I don't think I comprehend it fully yet thanks xx have a great week/day/year_


	7. Quiet Wit

Tristan McLean was waiting in the living room when Piper arrived back home in the evening.

She had been so full from all the food she'd eaten at the tea earlier that afternoon that she barely registered her father's BMW parked outside as she stumbled through the doorway. Then she blinked as she caught sight of his figure sat on the sofa, scrolling through his email. "Dad," she called. "I didn't know you'd be home so early."

Her father patted the seat next to him. As she sat down, he closed his laptop and turned his full attention on her. That didn't happen very often.

"How was tea? You're dressed up nice."

Piper shrugged. "Okay. The food was good." He tried to act nonchalant, but suddenly, it was as if a dam broke and out poured all the questions. "How is your mother? Did she recognise you? How do you feel about her?" Piper could sense that he felt a little hurt that she'd not called to see him as well. She knew she had to tackle this with caution.

"She's fine, I guess. We just talked a little, and she gave me her name card 'in case of emergencies'. I'll probably never use it." She pulled out a silver card with looping pink printing. Her father took it from her and turned it around in his hands, holding it as though it was the most precious thing in the world. Piper felt an overwhelming sense of sadness. Movie stars weren't all made out to be- popular, gregarious, and upbeat. Looking at her father's hunched figure, she wondered how it was possible for someone so popular to be so lonely.

"What do you think of your mother?" he asked quietly.

"She's okay, if a bit- err, flowery," Piper thought of her long pastel skirt and how it seemed to swish about her like the petals of a flower. Yes, flowery was definitely an accurate description.

His expression softened. "Of course." He seemed to pull himself together and he handed the name card back to Piper and patted her awkwardly on the back. "Time for dinner. I expect you'll be too full to eat much, but you can just eat half your portion."

Piper forced a smile as she took the hike up to her bedroom and collapsed inside. Her dress was itching at her skin, and she vowed to chuck it into the cupboard and never wear it again. She was slotting the name card back into her wallet when she furrowed her eyebrows and drew it back out again.

She hadn't had an opportunity to examine it earlier, but now she read the card carefully. Aphrodite Olympia, Aphrodite Design- appointment on booking only. Something about her name stroke her as familiar, but in her tired state, she couldn't figure it out. Piper tossed her wallet back into the backpack and headed downstairs for dinner.

…

The Green Day was really starting to get to him.

Jason paced across his room again, his phone in his hand. Thalia was blasting one of her playlists next door- Jason was pretty sure this one involved a long string of curse words and was for when Thalia was in a particularly bad mood. Once he heard that playlist playing, he knew not to go near Thalia for the next two days or so.

His bedroom was uncharacteristically messy. Usually, his clothes would be folded in the cupboard or in the laundry bag, his shoes by the door, and his papers filed neatly away. He took a look at himself in the mirror and saw that his appearance matched the state of his bedroom- slightly scruffy t-shirt and sweatpants. His blond hair was uncombed and sticking up in all directions. The training practices he'd been trying to schedule for the football team lay unfinished on his desk.

So what had him so out of sorts? Jason's finger hovered over the call button of Piper's contact in his phone, contemplating whether or not to hit the button. He didn't know what drove his desire to do so all of a sudden, but now that he had been gripped by it, he was in a vicious war with himself. To call or not to call was the question.

 _You know how stressed she was about meeting her mom_ , a little voice said in his head. _Just call her to check up on her and all. It's nothing!_

But another small voice retorted. _You're not even that close to her. Plus, she probably still hates your guts from that time you spilled coffee on her jacket. You idiot. She even said she wasn't your friend. Acquaintances don't call each other out of the blue on the pretext of 'checking up on them'_.

As the two voices debated back and forth in his head, a new message popped up from Reyna, regarding 'an urgent issue on the homecoming preparations' that he needed to check his email about immediately. That could be dealt with later. Reyna, in his opinion, was working too hard with this student council position. He rarely saw her smile anymore, and her face was constantly tight with strain and a crease between her eyebrows that was never there before had appeared. He was concerned for his best friend.

After a few agonisingly long minutes of pacing back and forth, Jason did something very un-Jason like and followed his instincts, pressing call. No turning back now.

The monotone drone of the dialling tone seemed to go on for ages as Jason stood as still as a statue in the middle of the room, his phone pressed to his ear, the fluorescent light shining too brightly. After what seemed like eons, the dialling tone stopped and Piper's familiar voice drifted down the line. "Jason?" she sounded surprised. Jason couldn't blame her.

It was only when she picked up the phone did he realise that he had no idea what to say. "English project," he blurted out, then smacked his forehead. _She already thinks you're a slave driver, now she'll think you're heartless as well. How smart of you_.

"Really, Jason?" Piper sounded exhausted. Jason was repeatedly smacking his forehead now. "I just got back from meeting my mom… can we deal with this on Monday?"

"Err- yeah. Actually," it was now or never. Why was he so worked out about this anyway? He was pretty sure it was detailed in his job scope as a student council president to 'look out for the welfare of the general student population'. This had to be counted as one of his responsibilities, right? "How did that go?"

There was a brief silence. Jason wondered if she had hung up on him.

"It was weird," she said finally. "Also, I wasn't expecting you to ask after me about that, to be honest. Carry on being nice, it suits you much better than being a pretentious twat."

Jason chose to ignore the last part. "Weird how?"

He could literally visualise her nonchalant shrug. It seemed so much a part of Piper's character, that casual lilt of her shoulders that made it seem as though she did not have a care in the world. He knew better. "Just odd."

"I can't put it into proper words, but it's like if you grew up without an arm or a leg, and you learn to live without it just fine. But one day someone hands you back your missing appendage and you try to fit it back in, which you can't." She yawned, as if saying that huge chunk of words had exhausted her.

Jason hadn't missed how Piper had a sort of quiet wit about her. She wasn't as strikingly intelligent as Annabeth, or as sharp as Reyna, but she had a way with words that could simplify any complex matter and make everything sound so simple, so direct- so believable. He'd already witnessed how she'd twisted lies out of nowhere on the first day of class, and had no doubt that she'd used her charm and good looks to pull herself out of many situations before.

"Jason? You awake?" Piper's slightly annoyed voice filtered down the line, making him jump. He'd been so lost in his thoughts that he had forgotten to reply her. "Uh yeah- just thinking about how that made a lot of sense."

"Anyway, I'm flat out tired. We'll talk about the project tomorrow or something, if it'll put your academically driven soul at ease." He could hear her smirking. He tried to protest. "I do not have an academically driven-" "Goodnight, Jason." The line went dead.

Jason was grinning slightly as he put his phone down on the bedside table, his mind quiet once more. Now that the two voices in his head had stopped yelling, he felt calm enough to tidy his room, returning it to its original state of being spick and span. He finished planning his training schedule just as Thalia poked her head around the door, a scowl gracing her features. "Night shift time, little bro. You in?"

She didn't have to ask twice. Jason had had trouble falling asleep since he entered high school. He would lie awake in bed, his mind restless as he tossed and turned. Thalia found him sitting calmly in the living room one night when she got back from her shift at the café, staring at the blank wall. Since then, he'd gone with her to the café every single night.

When people found out about his sleeping issue, they always said the same thing. "Count sheep or something." What they didn't understand that was that it was hard to count sheep when they ran in circles around your head, bleating their heads off about expectations and fulfillment and whatnot. With his messed up sleeping schedule, he usually returned home at about four in the morning, close his eyes and lie in bed till the morning came and he woke up for school. His body was so used to the lack of sleep that he no longer had dark circles under his eyes, even if he'd spent the night sitting up in a café and doing homework.

The next afternoon, he found himself at a coffee shop with the rest of the student council. Reyna banged her glass on the table for attention. Everyone sat up straight immediately as she began to speak. "So we're gathered here today-" "To witness the union of who?" a scruffy looking senior stumbled into the coffee shop, looking slightly unfocused as he gripped a flask of suspiciously dark red liquid. Probably Kool-Aid.

"Glad you could join us, Dakota," Reyna eyed him coldly as he took his seat between Gwen and Annabeth, who wrinkled her nose as she caught the stench of his Kool-Aid. "As I was saying, we're here to discuss Homecoming this year. The student council is in charge of planning this event, and this means that it cannot- and will not- be a flop." She met everyone's eyes around the table, slow and hard, so that no one dared to question why she was planning for an event in mid-October when it was still September. Even after years of knowing her, it was still nerve wrecking to have Reyna as a friend.

"So we have to come up with a theme first. Any suggestions?"

"Greek?" Annabeth volunteered. She was a total geek about these things. She especially loved Greece because of its architecture. Jason knew not to get her started on it, because she could talk for hours. "How do we coordinate our food and decorations to be Greek, though?" A skinny blond boy- Octavian- piped up, scowling. "I'd much rather it be Roman. Much, much cooler."

"If you can't find food and decorations to suit a Greek theme, what makes you think you can find one for a Roman one?" Annabeth shot back. Octavian was about to retort back but Reyna cleared her throat. "How about we choose something not related to countries or culture? Culture especially is a tricky theme, especially because we don't want to be guilty of cultural appropriation." Her words made so much sense that even Octavian had to grudgingly agree. Reyna would grow up to be a good politician one day.

A few other suggestions were thrown out, but they were all either turned away as being too cheesy, too difficult, or too generic. Everyone was getting restless now fiddling with their coffee mugs or talking in small groups. Jason looked down at his phone to see his phone screen light up with a new message from Piper. _So I had an idea for the project topic- societal expectations?_

He glanced up to see Reyna deep in discussion with Gwen over the topic of having Disney as a theme, trying to convince her that it was too cheesy. The student council seemed to be split over the topic, half agreeing with Reyna, the other half wanting the Disney theme. He replied Piper's text. _Sure, it sounds great. What kind of societal expectations?_

She texted back immediately- _like of gender roles, maybe some stereotypes. Can I call you? It'll be easier to explain that way._

Jason's fingers moved rapidly over the keyboard as people continued arguing about how to make the Homecoming seem 'classy'. _Sorry, I'm stuck in a student council meeting. They want to find a homecoming theme that is 'classy' and 'fresh'_.

 _'_ _Classy' and 'fresh' sound so cringe-worthy. How about a black and white mask ball?_

Jason furrowed his eyebrows. It was a good idea- he could visualise the gymnasium decorated in black and white, with black and white food at the sides, and people dressed in black and white. He looked up from his phone to find Reyna staring at him disapprovingly and he hastily stowed his phone away.

"How do you guys feel about a black and white mask ball?"

hey! this is uploaded a day late because I originally wrote another draft of this chapter, but I wasn't very happy about it so here is draft 2! btw I have a music recommendation thing in my profile because I love music a lot- it's one of my favourite things besides reading/writing and YouTube so if you need new music to listen to, I have a bunch of songs in my profile that I update from time to time :) have a great day xx


	8. Some Days Just Don't Go Well

_Some Days Just Don't Go Well, And That's Okay_

Jason's day didn't start out well.

It was the following Wednesday, and he was lying awake in bed when his alarm rang shrilly, startling him as he jumped and his forehead hit the corner of his bedside table. He yelped out in pain- no doubt a bruise would form within the next hour.

Thalia was making pancakes downstairs, and she promptly burst into laughter when Jason stumbled down the stairs. "What?" he asked grumpily, his hand going to the bruise on his forehead. His spiky-haired sister pointed at his shirt, which was backwards facing, and his socks, which were mismatched. On his left foot was a plain grey sock, but he was wearing a pink sock with space aliens on his right foot, a gag gift from Thalia the previous Christmas. Jason flushed in embarrassment as he headed back up the staircase, Thalia's laughter echoing behind him.

Thalia threw a cream envelope at him when he finally sat down at the breakfast table, and he groaned loudly, already knowing what was inside. "Really? Do we have to?" Thalia clapped him on the back as she grabbed a bagel. "Think of it as free food." He slit open the envelope to find an invitation in card stock paper, the same one they received every year.

Grace Holdings cordially invites you to the Annual Dinner Gala. Dress Code: Formal. RSVP Hermes Grace 303-763-1092.

The invitation included a plus one- that was usually ignored by Jason, but there was a handwritten note at the back of the card from Zeus, who stated that Hera and he would be 'very much pleased' if he could bring a date. Which, of course, meant that it was mandatory.

Unfortunately, his day didn't get any better from there.

Drew cornered him around lunchtime, batting her eyelashes while demanding there be 'a pink theme' for Homecoming. He was glad to inform her that the theme had already been chosen, at which she pouted and proceeded to heavily imply that she would very much like for him to take her to Homecoming. By the time he wormed out from her clutches, lunch was over, leaving him with no opportunity to even grab a bite.

His absence from the lunch table also resulted in Reyna's frosty treatment later, when she chastised him for not attending yet another student council meeting at lunchtime. She was retrieving books from her locker as she lectured him on punctuality and initiative, while Jason stood rocking on his heels, getting mildly annoyed. "We don't have to have a meeting _everyday_ , Rey," he complained. He immediately regretted it as Reyna pounced on him immediately. "Well, if you don't consider your duties as the student council president important enough-"

"Boys will be boys," Annabeth cut in, saving the day, even if she did indirectly insult him in the process. Jason sent a thankful smile her way as she patted Reyna's arm and started discussing the logistics for Homecoming, effectively distracting her enough for Annabeth to lead her away.

Hungry and tired, he barely arrived on time for AP Physics. His table partner, a spunky Latino named Leo Valdez, swooped in beside him a moment later. "What's up, Mr. President?"

Jason had met Leo on the first day of school in freshman year, when Leo tried to sell him a handmade miniature Ferris wheel for five dollars in the cafeteria. He'd slid into the seat next to Jason, across from Reyna, who frowned at him. He didn't seem to take any notice of her. "Hey, bro," he produced the Ferris wheel from the tool belt he always seemed to bring around. "Fancy a mini wheel? Five dollars only- it's on sale." He spun the wheel around on his finger, and it's carriages (which were small bells) jingled as they spun around.

Jason had laughed, and even Reyna had quirked a slight smile. "Did you make that?" Leo puffed out his chest proudly. "Courtesy of Uncle Leo's mechanics. So, do we have a deal?"

"Jason-" Reyna began suspiciously. He'd waved away her concerns (the first time he'd ever done so) and pulled out the money from his wallet. "Deal." She'd pursed her lips tightly as Leo gave them an impish grin and skipped away. "What? No harm in having a bit of fun."

Now, Leo pulled out his phone and started typing furiously fast as the teacher droned on in front of the class. Jason tried to concentrate, but it was hard with all the barely muffled conversations around the room, and the glow of Leo's phone screen under the table as he texted someone called 'Beauty Queen'. Most people made use of Physics class to do their own activities since the teacher had the most monotone voice, one that could put anyone to sleep. Couple that with the fact that he didn't seem to care regardless of what his students did in class, and AP Physics was the noisiest class Jason took.

Leo burst out laughing at one of the texts he'd received. "Could you maybe text your girlfriend some other time?"

Leo raised his eyebrows at him. "Nah, mate- she isn't my girlfriend. She's a cool girl, though." "Who's she? Katie? Silena? Miranda?" He named a few girls he knew, suddenly taking an interest in whoever Leo had deemed as 'a cool girl' but hadn't tried to hit on yet, given his track record of being a 'ladies' man'.

"She's new. Short girl with pretty eyes and long hair?" Jason choked. " _Piper_?" Leo nodded happily. "Yeah." _It's a small world_ , Jason thought. "You don't like her?" Leo observed the look on Jason's face. "We're not on the best of terms," Jason replied carefully after a long consideration.

"Charmer," Leo muttered under his breath, earning a smack from Jason, which he dodged, grinning. "Joking, Mr. President. Don't get too violent." He had given up telling him to lay off the nickname.

"Late again, Jason," Reyna shook her head at him as he stumbled into the office after football practice, stinking of sweat and mud. "Sorry, it's just been a bad day and-" Reyna nodded, but she wasn't really listening. Her eyes were still trained on the paper on the table. "It's okay, just take a seat."

He, Annabeth and Reyna were supposed to be going over a list of caterers for Homecoming. Jason had grown sick of that word after endless meetings and discussions and had started referring to Homecoming as 'the event' instead. The meetings for it were thankfully coming to a close as they were going through the final details of it. "Patisserie Queen?" Annabeth suggested.

Reyna shook her head. "They don't cater for large scale events." "Creamy Tarts?"

"No," Reyna and Jason said simultaneously.

"Deli Donuts?"

"We can't just eat donuts."

Annabeth threw up her hands. "Why don't we just call Percy's mom?"

"Okay." "What, really?"

Jason nodded eagerly. "Yeah, I like her blue cookies." "And her blue cupcakes," Reyna added longingly. "But she can't cater for so many people," Annabeth reluctantly pointed out.

It was getting late. His head was throbbing painfully and he wanted nothing more than to go home. Jason could see students starting to head back after their co-curricular activities. In fifteen minutes the office would be locked up. "Got it," Jason snapped his fingers. "We can get a combination of caterers. We just need to decide the food list."

Reyna look hugely relieved. "Thanks, Jase." He felt a slight tightening in his chest, a pang that brought back childhood memories of running in the rain and drinking hot chocolate. She hadn't called him that since they were little. "I've got to head out first. My sister's meeting me for dinner." She slung her bag onto her shoulder.

Before he could stop himself, he blurted out. "Can I have a favour?"

"Dude," Annabeth grinned as she punched him in the shoulder later that evening. "About time." They were walking towards the parking lot after locking up the student council office, Jason turning the keys around in his hands. He shrugged uncomfortably. "I needed a date. Why not ask her?"

"It's the best idea you've ever come up with. I think you two would be cute together." Annabeth smiled at him, as if she knew something she didn't. They were approaching Percy and Jason's cars, which were parked side by side in the parking lots. Percy brightened when he saw them approach and revved the engine on his car. "Woah, what? I asked her because it was mandatory for me to bring someone. Plus, she's my best friend. Who says dates can't be platonic best friends?" Jason sounded defensive, even to himself.

Annabeth laughed as she got into the shotgun seat of Percy's car. "I don't think she wants to be just 'platonic best friends' with you, if you catch my drift." The car pulled out of the driveway, leaving Jason to ponder upon whatever she meant.

He got home and started doing his homework, but everything seemed so mundane and routine that he stopped after less than an hour. As the student council president, he shouldn't be thinking these thoughts, but he couldn't help but feel so restricted by this routine and this constant strive for perfection. He'd always envied Thalia for being able to break free from Zeus' expectations and demands, and to always have the freedom to do whatever she wanted. He didn't know why he felt that way, but he felt a constant need to prove himself to his father, which was ridiculous since they weren't even close.

Everything Jason had done to this point- becoming captain of the football team, getting straight As, being the president of the student council- these were all driven by the desire to live up to expectations. He was expected to take over Grace Holdings one day, regardless of whatever other goals he might have had. And Zeus wanted the future executive of Grace Holdings to have a perfect track record- and that meant that Jason couldn't be anything less than flawless.

He had never expressed these thoughts out to another person before. And he shook his head violently even as he thought it- this was ridiculous. Maybe he was just tired. People thought silly thoughts when they were tired.

Just as he flopped into bed, his phone started ringing incessantly. With his pounding headache, everything seemed to be ten times shriller and ten times more piercing. Was it Reyna again? Hadn't they finished with the Homecoming discussion already? He dragged himself out of bed and pressed the answer button without looking at the caller ID.

"Rey, I'm sure the Homecoming is important and stuff-" he began. "It's Piper."

He sat up straight. "Err- hi?" It came out as more of a question than anything else. Why would she be randomly calling him at night? She'd said it herself- they weren't friends. "Not to bother you or anything, but you did say to come online on the Google Document at 8? For the English project?" A glance at the clock told him he was late by half an hour.

Jason cursed uncharacteristically as Piper chuckled. He rushed to his desk and flipped his laptop open. He put the phone on speaker mode as he typed an incorrect password three times before finally logging in. "Rough day?" Piper asked teasingly, unknowingly hitting the nail on the head. She had that uncanny ability, as if she could see right through you. "You know, some days just don't go well, and that's okay."

"Yeah," he admitted. It was silent on both ends for a few minutes before she replied. "You can tell me about it if you like. Someone once told me it feels better to let it all out," she said, mimicking what he'd said to her that night in the café. He could feel his headache ebbing away as he smiled, even though she couldn't see him.

So he talked, and she listened. Piper was a good listener; he'd give her that. She didn't interrupt him until he'd said everything he wanted to say and let out his last breath. He was panting as if he'd just run a marathon, but he felt so much better.

"So what are you going to do about it?" Their English project on the computer was quite forgotten by now. Jason shrugged helplessly. "There isn't much I can do about it. It's what I'm supposed to do."

"Exactly," Piper sounded almost angry. "It's _yours_. Which means it's up to _you_." She made everything sound so, so simple. "You don't understand," he muttered. "I do," she said, to his surprise.

"When I was little, my dad used to send me to all these acting classes. He's very interested in acting. He wanted me to follow his footsteps. But I hated acting," he could visualise her wry smile. "So one day, I told him outright that I hated it. He was hurt, but he stopped making me go for all those classes. It got much better."

"Huh." Jason still doubted he could do anything about it, but his mind was now blessedly clear. He also felt a little strange- he'd never told this much about himself to anyone before. Deep conversations were foreign in his world.

Piper was saying something in the background, but he'd zoned out so much he only caught the last part of her sentence. "- So, yeah."

"Huh?" he was aware that he sounded like an idiot. She laughed. "I said that I needed to go. Clean your ears, dude. Also- try to sleep tonight, yeah?" her last words surprised him. She put down the phone before he could say anything else. He doubted he could though- he'd gone such a long time without sleeping that he'd almost forgotten what it was like to even lay down in his bed. He usually caught up on this sleep in the afternoons or evenings, and his nights were for being productive.

Later he would turn down the prospect of another trip to the 24-hour café and do something he hadn't done in a long, long time- attempt to sleep.

 _hi guys! so you may have noticed I'm spacing out the uploading time for each chapter since I'm going to start NaNoWriMo next week and I'm also going to start volunteering at an animal shelter regularly from next week onwards- that means you can expect a new chapter every 4 days ish instead of every 3 days. thank you for understanding :) have a great day xx_


	9. A Turn in Events

"Rey, seriously- it's no big deal."

"The company function, which is going to be attended by hundreds of important people, and of which I'm going with the son of the CEO- it's not a big deal?" Reyna's voice was one octave higher than normal. Jason laughed nervously. "Yeah it isn't- just wear a random dress or something there- it's not hard."

"Yes, because it's not hard to find a suitable dress by this Saturday. It's Thursday today, which makes it two days to find a dress."

"My dad always gives a late invite. It really doesn't matter; they won't mind-" But Reyna had already tuned him out, her fingers flying over the keyboard as she searched for a suitable dress online. Annabeth, who was halfway through her muffin, fixed Jason with a frown. "It's important to make a good impression. You of all people should know. Mind you, if I were her I'd be more freaked out than that."

They were at the lunch table, and Percy had just slid in next to Jason, across from Annabeth. "If it isn't our resident flop. Dude, you don't tell a girl that you want to bring them fancy on such a short notice. I learnt from experience," he nodded significantly at Annabeth, who gave a smug smile. "You're lucky I'm not Reyna, Jason. You'll get much worse than a black eye if you told me I had to look presentable for a huge event where there could be prospective employers at."

"Oh yeah- apparently the deans of a few universities are going to be there… I'm not sure, but I think Berkeley… and Harvard…" Jason screwed up his face trying to remember some more, before noticing the silence that fell over the table. Annabeth had dropped her muffin, and Reyna was wearing an expression akin to that of someone being electrocuted. Percy just looked very sorry for Jason. "What?"

"… Berkeley? Harvard?" Reyna asked in a strangled voice. Annabeth put a hand on Reyna's arm. "This is going to be impossible," Reyna looked horrified. "It's just a small event-" He stopped himself at Annabeth's warning expression. "Okay, Rey- we'll go to the mall after school." Reyna had started gathering her things, and stood to leave. Annabeth followed her. "No need to stress. We'll find something." Their voices trailed away as the two girls left the cafeteria.

Jason looked at Percy, who shrugged helplessly. "I don't understand girls."

"Me neither, bro."

…

"No, Piper- we're not putting _that_ on the poster."

"Yes we are," she said stubbornly. "It's an accurate portrayal of gender stereotypes.

Jason's face felt like it was burning. "This is a school project." "It raises awareness of the double standards in society," Piper's voice through Skype was obstinate. The fact that he had lowered the volume on the call did not obscure the adamant tone of her voice, and he could see her crossing her arms in the small screen of the video call.

Jason and Piper were planning the design of their poster online over Skype on Friday evening, and Piper had just pasted a picture- an interesting picture, to say the least- onto the Google document. Jason was flinching slightly at the image that had abruptly popped up. "It's staying there." Piper shushed his protests.

Downstairs, Jason could hear the front door click, which could only mean that Zeus and Hera were back for the weekend for the company gala. The music in Thalia's room was turned up a notch as a symbol of her defiance. She had an exam on Monday, and she knew when it came to academics, their father would not do anything that could possibly hinder her from achieving the best grades possible, even if it meant allowing her to blast music at an alarming velocity at nine in the evening.

He took another look at the image on the screen. "I think I need to splash my face with cold water," he mumbled as he made for the en suite bathroom. He heard Piper's quiet laughter as he shut the bathroom door behind him.

He was just turning off the tap when he heard voices in his room and froze. One was Piper's. "It's an accurate representation of gender stereotypes in today's society," she was repeating what she'd said to Jason, but her voice now had a tinge of nervousness to it. "Is it?" the second voice, cold and skeptical, clearly belonged to Zeus. Everything around Jason seemed to flip upside-down, and he felt hot and cold all over.

Zeus knocked sharply on the bathroom door, making him jump. "Jason, are you in there?" He braced himself and opened the bathroom door to Zeus' furious face. The disapproval in his eyes nearly made Jason shrink back, but he forced himself to stand his ground. "Yes, Father?"

"Can I have a word outside?" Zeus said through gritted teeth.

As he followed Zeus out into the corridor, he caught Piper's worried gaze in the corner of the screen, and attempted to give her a shaky smile, as if to convey that it was no big deal. They both knew better, even as Jason shut the bedroom door and turned to face Zeus, who fixed him with a steely glare. Even though Jason was 6 feet tall, Zeus was still taller than him and he casted a shadow as he loomed over Jason.

"Mind explaining that?" Zeus' voice was deadly quiet, like the calm before a storm.

Jason knew that there was no point in acting nonchalant. "It was a joke, Father." "It had better be. Do you wish to tarnish the good family name of Grace? Do you know how badly your future would be ruined if you had turned that in? Answer me!" the last two words were a shout. Thalia's music stopped from inside her room. The only sound in the corridor was Zeus' heavy breathing.

Jason struggled to keep his cool. "Yes, I will have it removed immediately." He could feel his knees going weak under Zeus' contemptuous look. "Who is that girl you are working with?" he asked suddenly. "Err- she's my partner on the project, she-"

"The teacher chose the partners?" he cut across Jason. "Yes, but-"

"I don't want you mixing around with her once the project is over. You cannot ruin your future by hanging with such bad company. I do hope she's not the girl you're bringing with you to the company function."

"It's not your business who Jason decides to bring," Thalia's tone could've match Zeus'. She was standing in the doorway of her room, her arms folded and a highlighter in hand. "It's his own judgment." Her blue eyes gleamed dangerously, as if she would gladly to stab Zeus with her bright neon highlighter and walk away after scribbling all over his face with it. Jason loved his sister.

Zeus glared at Jason, but it was less harsh. "I want you to go back in there, delete that picture from your poster, get off Skype, and go to bed. Do you understand me?" Jason nodded.

He sat back down in his chair. Piper had already deleted the picture off the poster, and she looked uncharacteristically serious. "I'm sorry. I shouldn't have done that. I didn't know your father was going to come into the room."

"Me neither." Jason got the feeling that Zeus was listening from outside the door. "Look, I need to go. I'll talk to you… some other time." Piper's expression shut off completely, and he wanted to tell her so badly that no, that wasn't what he meant, but he knew that would only get him and Piper in deeper trouble with Zeus. "Alright then," Piper said tightly and ended the call.

Jason put his head in his hands and sighed.

…

Piper woke the next morning feeling drained.

 _So much so for a good friendship_ , she thought resignedly. She'd felt horrible for pasting that picture there, even though she'd fully intended to take it down later. What had been a budding friendship was as good as destroyed- it was clear to her that he didn't want anything more to do with her. She didn't blame him.

Her father had already left the house, as usual, but Jane was there as always, setting waffles onto the table, which she started digging in immediately. If there was one thing she appreciated about Jane, it was her cooking. Piper poured a copious amount of chocolate sauce on the waffle that would've made any remotely health-conscious person flinch, and started chopping up the waffles into small squares. "We're going into town today," Jane informed her in her flat, expressionless tone. "Why?"

"Your father has requested your presence at a gala he is invited to tonight. He has made a generous donation towards one of their projects for building an environmentally friendly estate, and he is invited as one of the guest-of-honours. It goes without saying that you will need to be attired properly."

Piper was already standing up before Jane had finished her sentence. "Absolutely not." Jane's expression didn't change. "I only carry out his instructions. If you have any issues with this arrangement, you can bring it up with him."

Piper whipped out her phone. Jane turned back to doing the dishes at the sink, as if she knew that Tristan wouldn't pick up. He never picked up any of her calls while he was at work. Yet, on the fifth try… "Hello? Tristan McLean speaking."

"It's Piper. Why do I have to accompany you to your dinner?" Piper was direct to the point, because she knew from experience that she had to capture his attention within fifteen seconds max, or not get his attention at all. "Piper," her dad exhaled through his nose. "I know I have never asked for such a thing from you before. But I feel that it is time for you to start taking your studies seriously."

Piper wanted to laugh. All this time, she had been slaving away at her academics while her father tried to push her towards pursuing the arts, and now he wanted her to _start_ taking her studies seriously? How well did Tristan McLean even understand his daughter?

"There will be several deans and high ranking professors at the gala. It will do you well to make their acquaintance." Piper's head jerked up immediately. It was true, she hated going to any sort of fancy event, but if there was another reason for going… "Consider it done," Piper said finally. She could hear his pleased tone over the phone. "A good decision." Piper shook her head wryly and put down the phone. She felt a small rush of satisfaction. Putting the phone down first- that was something she hadn't done on a call to her father in a long time.

Piper buckled her seat belt as Jane's car purred to life. "The mall, then?" Piper was about to agree, but she paused. She didn't do this often anyway, and if she wanted to make a good impression, she might as well go all out. "Hold on," she drew out the silver card out of her wallet and passed it to Jane. "Do you know where this is?"

"Piper, I know this store. You need to book an appointment there in advance." Piper smiled. "Yes, I know." She punched in a number handwritten at the back of the card. "Mom?" The word was foreign on her lips. "It's Piper. I need a favour."

When the car pulled up in front of Aphrodite's Parlour twenty minutes later, a gorgeous woman drifted out of the rotating glass doors, and beamed widely at Piper as she got out of the car rather uncomfortably, her sneakers scuffing on the polished marble floor. Aphrodite's smile faded slowly as she took in Piper's appearance from her nest of tangled hair to her tattered jeans. Standing next to Aphrodite, who was in a pastel pink suit and had her hair waved perfectly, Piper felt very scruffy. She hadn't bothered to dress up this time, and she folded her arms in front of her defensively under her mother's scrutinising gaze. "What?"

Aphrodite shook her head grimly as she marched her daughter towards the doors, her hand gripping Piper's shoulder tightly. "You, my child, need a lot of work."

 ** _hello! new chapter :) also since I'm doing nanowrimo too, I'm thinking of uploading the story here after I'm done with it. It's a dramione fanfiction aka one of my OTPs. On a completely irrelevant note, I love watching dramione videos on youtube especially those really sad ones xx have a great day_**


	10. Definitely Not Okay

"Much, much better."

The hairstylist stepped back, comb in hand, to admire her handiwork. It could have been worse, Piper supposed. The hairstylist, Silena, had gasped in horror when Aphrodite had steered her into the studio after she'd picked out a dress from the series of ready-made dresses. Piper had fought tooth and nail to not wear pink, as Aphrodite had suggested ("it would bring out your cheeks, my dear"), or have a sparkly ensemble. She agreed to a black and gold dress at last, thinking that she could somehow maintain a shred of dignity while conversing with high-ranking university professors.

Aphrodite had left her alone with Silena, who made her stand in the middle of the studio for a few minutes, circling her like bird of prey, lifting up sections of her hair and shaking her head mournfully. "So much potential," she said as she forced Piper into a chair. "And so little time."

Silena, a young woman with flowing dark hair and crystal blue eyes, was apparently the best hairstylist at Aphrodite's Parlour, according to Aphrodite herself. Piper could see why, even as she inspected the results of Silena's work in the mirror an hour later. Her hair, which was previously choppy and filled with rats' nests, was trimmed and conditioned, so that it fell in a sleek curtain to the middle of her back. Piper knew that this kind of hair would take much work to maintain, and knowing her own 'can't be bothered' attitude, it wouldn't be a month before her hair went back to its normal, disheveled state.

Aphrodite swept into the room. "Thank you so much, Silena, I wouldn't know what to do without your expertise." Silena inclined her head graciously. "It's not my best work- but there is not enough time for a full treatment." "As I obviously require one," Piper added sarcastically. The two women tittered, before Piper was whisked out by Aphrodite, just managing to thank Silena in time.

"You look fit to be seen now," Aphrodite applied the final swoop of blush on her cheeks. Thankfully, she hadn't applied too much makeup, but Piper still felt sticky and uncomfortable. She felt an urge to wipe off her makeup, but resisted it as she smiled at Aphrodite, trying to simultaneously convey her gratitude and desire to murder for putting that horrendous paint on her face.

Aphrodite took her to the roundabout, where a long black limousine was just pulling up the drive. Piper recognised it as the car her father sat in every time he had to go to an important event, which Piper thought was ostentatious and unnecessary. Aphrodite gave her dress a last smoothing over and shooed her away, a hint of pride in her eyes as Piper closed the door behind her and the car pulled off.

"Was that your mother?" Tristan sounded in awe. Piper had to hide a smile- after all these years, it seemed that he was still unable to let her go. "Yeah. She's beautiful, isn't she?"

Her father finally registered what she was wearing. "Good God, Piper, did she turn you into a miniature her?" Even though his words were mockingly horrified, she could hear a hint of something else in his voice. "You look so much like your mother." Piper tugged on the smooth hair that hung around her. After much argument, Silena had agreed to keep her trademark braids in, albeit redoing it with more style and experience.

"Probably. Guess it isn't a look I can keep up with."

Piper counted down in her mind silently. 3… 2… 1… Her father's phone rang. Her theory still proved true- they couldn't have a conversation for longer than a minute before being cut off.

It was dark outside when the car finally stopped in front of a set of double doors of a hotel. Someone had set up a red carpet leading up to the glass doors, and great pains had obviously been taken to make sure that it was a private event- no paparazzi were there. Piper let out a small huff of relief. If they were here, no doubt the tabloids the next day would have the headline 'Tristan McLean's mysterious daughter makes an appearance', followed by a full page long article analysing and picking apart her looks.

A pair of men dressed in sharp suits jumped to open the door as her father stepped out and straightened his tie. One of the men held a hand out to help her out of the car, which Piper ignored as she hopped out of the car on her own, rather inelegantly too. A lady in a black suit appeared and ushered them into the hotel lobby, up an elevator, into a grand ballroom thrice the size of her house, filled with people and sophisticated chatter. There was a polished marble area in the middle of the room that looked like it was meant to be a dance floor, and there were tables all around it, almost fully occupied.

People stopped to gawk at her father, the bolder ones even asking for photographs, which he politely declined. To her surprise, there were a fair number of people staring at her too. She had assumed that the very presence of Tristan McLean would be enough to overshadow anyone standing within ten feet of him.

The lady led Piper and her father to one of the tables near the front of the room, where a raised platform had been set up and fresh potted plants lined the edge. A rostrum was placed at the far right of the stage, and the huge projection onscreen read: "Annual Dinner Gala: Grace Holdings."

Piper suddenly felt herself pale. Grace Holdings? That name sounded awfully familiar. Awfully, awfully familiar…

It couldn't be, she reasoned. There surely were many people around the world with the last name Grace… who happened to be from California as well. And it might not mean that _he_ had to be there, right? She felt her heartbeat slow down from its furiously palpitating state a few seconds ago. She reasoned that it was because she didn't ever want to meet his father, the man who had turned purple with rage, his face thunderous as he had violently dragged him out of the door, and the shouts she had heard out in the corridor. No, his father wasn't someone she wanted to meet, ever. Piper wasn't that scared, not as much as she was indignant and angry for him. Who treated their son like that?

Piper scanned the table they were sitting at quickly, and deduced that this had to be the table for important guests who made generous contributions to the company. There was an old, white-haired lady dripping jewels conversing in hushed tones with an old man dressed sharply in a tweed suit. The watch on his wrist looked like real gold. Piper recognized a few actors and singers at the table- apparently Grace Holdings provided many opportunities for charity work.

Another thing she noticed was the fact that there was virtually no one in her immediate vicinity around her age group. She could see some babies pushed around in strollers here and there, evidently too young to be left alone at home, much to the chagrin of their reluctant parents, who looked like they would lose their heads screaming if they started crying.

Then a teenage boy and his mother fills up the last two seats at the table (coincidentally, his seat is next to hers) and recognition sweeps over his face as he grins at her, a warm smile that looked like it could brighten the darkest corners of the earth.

"Piper, right?"

She can't help but return the smile. It was infectious. "Yeah. You go to Jupiter High too?" He flashes another toothy grin at her, one that almost blinds her. "Yeah. I'm Will Solace." "Ah." She remembers him now- one of the boys on Jason's football team, and member of the student council to boot. She had pegged him automatically as 'one of them', the term she collectively used for snotty, high-achieving people like Jason Grace, but now she was wondering if she'd been harsh to generalise all of them.

"So how did you get roped into this?" He nodded at the general surroundings. "Wait, let me guess. Did your dad tell you that there were university deans and professors here?" Piper laughed delightedly. "You too?"

"Yeah. But I have to ask a favour," he leaned in dramatically and gestured for her to come closer. "Not many people in school know that my mother is well, famous. I'd rather it stay that way. I'll do the same for you too," he said seriously. Piper understood completely. "Yes, of course. Thank you."

He messed up his sunny blond hair as he leaned back, catlike in his movements. She took a sip of her drink- sparkling water- as they began to converse in low tones. Piper saw her father watching them out of the corner of her eye.

A hush fell over the room as music began to play. A huge man in a dark suit appeared onstage, and Piper had to stifle a groan- her worst suspicions were confirmed. "That's Jason's father," Will whispered to her. "He must be somewhere around here too." If it was possible for her evening to get worse, it did when she caught sight of him standing in the shadows behind the raised platform, Reyna standing solemnly next to him. Of course they were here.

The man- Zeus Grace- made a few lighthearted comments, drawing laughter from the audience. How was it possible that this was the same man who had hauled his son out of the room, and whose yells reverberated through her screen even though he wasn't in the room? Zeus Grace inspired fear, and she could begin to see why Jason was the way he was.

"And before we can begin this proper, I must thank a few special guests with us today, without whom we would not be able to carry out our projects that have benefitted so many communities." A huge spotlight shined onto their table, and Piper instinctively drew back, wincing. She prayed and hoped against hope that he wouldn't recognise her.

Zeus started announcing the names of the people seated around their table, who stood up and acknowledged the applause when their name was called. "Tristan McLean, who is by far our most generous sponsor, who funded two projects for the elderly and the eco-town in Boston," Zeus' voice boomed. Her father nodded and smiled graciously, and Piper could tell that Jason's blue eyes were on her without looking at him. Reyna hadn't noticed though, her face still kept aloof impassively.

"Enjoy the rest of the night!" Zeus said at last. The lights dimmed as waiters appeared and started laying down dishes. "Piper," her father drew her out of her conversation with Will. "This is Professor Margaret- the head of the law programme at Harvard." The wrinkled old lady she'd noticed earlier gave her a tight smile. "Good evening, professor," Piper put on her best smile- the one that always charmed adults. It worked, and the professor's smile became more genuine. "I have always been interested in law," she carried on. "I was wondering if you could tell me more about your programme?"

The old lady looked surprised at that. Piper had twisted her words perfectly- she knew what she had been expecting- another young person showing off their accolades and promoting themselves shamelessly, while making sure to mention their name at least five times in the conversation. It had to be refreshing for her to meet someone who was truly interested, and was asking questions and giving her opportunities to speak, instead of not letting her get a word in at all.

By half an hour later, the old professor had asked for her name without Piper having to introduce herself. "It is indeed delightful to meet an intelligent and mature young lady who can carry a good conversation. If you're ever interested in the law programme in Harvard…" she produced a pamphlet from her handbag. "I will remember you, Piper."

Piper returned to her conversation with Will with a satisfied smile on her face. "You look like a cat who just caught a particularly tasty mouse," Will noted. "Struck gold?" Piper dug into her ice cream and smiled. "Now, we mustn't get arrogant just yet." Now came the matter of ensuring her results were good enough. If only her math wasn't so terrible…

"Relax," Will gave her another blinding grin. She realised that she had spoken aloud. "How would I relax? Do you have any ideas?" she raised an eyebrow, not realising that she sounded flirtatious. He nodded towards the dance floor, where many couples had already begun waltzing, and smiled at her. "May I?"

…

Jason ended his conversation with yet another professor, feeling quite drained. The professors were almost as uncomfortable as he was, clearly uninterested as he told them of his roles as a student council president. He was beginning to feel that this could be a pointless endeavour.

Besides, his mind wasn't on conversation right then. He was constantly craning his neck to look for a certain brunette, whom he'd caught sight of next to Tristan McLean. He had let out a long, quiet exhale as everything became clearer- no wonder no one knew her last name, because she hadn't wanted them to know. Imagine the field day Drew would have if she found out that Piper's father was Tristan McLean.

Reyna had asked him out of the corner of her mouth, almost imperceptibly to an untrained eye. "What's the matter?" She had clearly detected the change in his behaviour. "Nothing," he replied. He knew that Piper would want her identity to be kept a secret.

He caught sight of her then, whirling around the dance floor, her arms around a blond boy. Jason recognised him- Will Solace, from his football team. Will had a mother who was a famous singer, he knew as much. He was surprised to find that he didn't feel pleased by the fact that he was dancing with Piper.

"Shall we dance?" he said abruptly to Reyna. He didn't know what motivated him to do it, but the sight of Piper and Will swinging each other across the floor gaily…

She agreed, smiling. He led her over to the dance floor, and placed a careful hand on her waist. Reyna was a good dancer, he knew from years of spinning her around at school dances, but they never seemed to be in sync, their shoulders bumping into each other as they moved. Reyna didn't seem to mind, and only guided him gently as they abandoned any attempt to keep up with the music.

His eyes were still fixed on Piper, dancing at the far end of the room. A few tendrils of hair had escaped from her up do, and they were framing her face. He didn't know why, but those few strands of hair, blowing around as she shook her head back and laughed… They were quite captivating, and also incredibly distracting even as she laughed again and Jason accidentally stepped on Reyna's foot. "Sorry," he muttered.

"It's okay," she murmured back. But it wasn't okay, even as they kept on dancing and Piper's father- Tristan McLean- came to tell her that they had to leave, and it wasn't okay as he watched Piper dropping into a mock curtsy and laughing and smiling at Will Solace, it wasn't okay as he watched Will and Piper exchanging numbers, and it definitely wasn't okay when he watched Will press a kiss to Piper's cheek as she left, watching a blush graze her cheeks.

And he hated that he didn't understand why it wasn't okay.

 _okay don't kill me- trust me, it gets better for them. maybe. oops. have a great day xx (ps I know about solangelo it may or may not happen)_


	11. Of Gender Roles And First Dates

"Wow, someone's a happy girl today," Leo commented as Piper walked into homeroom on Monday morning with a bounce in her step.

"Nothing," Piper grinned as she swung her backpack onto her chair and thumped down energetically. "Woah, Piper- did you do something with your hair?" Katie's eyes were wide. Leo whistled. Piper touched her hair, which now fell in silky locks, self-consciously. She'd almost forgotten her impromptu makeover courtesy of Silena, and she wasn't sure she liked having perfect hair if it involved a lot of attention being called to her.

"Just got it cut and stuff," she said off-handedly. "It looks really pretty!" Katie gushed.

Leo wiggled his eyebrows at her. "Trying to impress someone?" Piper swatted him with her pencil case, which was enough of a response. She was, however, unable to hide the smile on her face as she recalled the events of the past weekend.

Will had texted her barely an hour after she'd left the hotel. _Are you free on Monday afternoon?_ She'd almost texted back immediately, but remembered what one of her friends had told her, what seemed like a long time ago back in Wyoming- "don't text a guy back immediately, because you'll sound too eager". So she'd waited till half an hour later, when she finally replied- _yep! Why?_

He replied instantly. _You want to go out for coffee at that café round the corner after school?_ Piper, who rarely got asked out, couldn't pretend that she wasn't a little excited. In her old schools, Piper was always the 'weird new girl with the horrible haircut', who didn't seem to attract many boys because of this. She usually kept to herself, and the few friends she had she usually lost touch with within a few months after she left the school. Never mind dates, Piper wasn't used to having that many friends in the first place. The fact that she was actually sitting in homeroom surrounded by friends within her first few months of school was a miracle on it's own.

She didn't bother waiting and texted back immediately. _Sure!_

So she'd made a tad more effort in dressing up for school today, with skinny jeans that weren't ripped or tattered, fairly new looking, and had abandoned her old snowboarding jacket (which was getting tight around the chest area) for a black sweater with the words 'go away' printed onto it (she had to retain some part of her reputation, after all), though she still kept on her generic boots.

Katie wasn't the only one who noticed her change- whispers followed her around that day, and Lacey had pestered her on where she went to get her hair done- "it has to be a really great place, if they could smooth out _your_ hair. No offence"- which Piper just replied vaguely with "around". She didn't particularly like attention, unlike some people who fought tooth and nail for the spotlight, and hated it when someone else was the centre of attention, namely Drew Tanaka, who glared fiercely at her anytime Piper came within ten feet of her.

She was busy trying to blend into the chair at lunch, bending her head down low and trying to ignore the blatant stares and not-so-quiet whispers of her fellow students. "When did she get hot?" she heard one of the swimmers, Dylan, say loudly to one of his friends. She recognised him from English class, where he usually goofed off at the back of the class and interrupted the lesson with loud guffaws. "I don't know, mate, but I call dibs on her." "Nah, she's my keep." It took all of Piper's restraint to not march up to them and sock them in the face right at that instant. If there was anything she hated more than attention, it was being objectified.

"Earth to Piper!" Leo suddenly poked her. "Huh?"

"You've been staring into space for, like, five whole minutes. Anyway, you want to come to Katie's house later after school? We're having a gaming session. Guys versus girls! A bunch of other people is coming too- Hazel, Frank, Bobby, Travis etcetera. You in?" Piper, whose childhood was the Nintendo and who grew up with a PlayStation, was dying to go. But she shook her head regretfully. "Sorry, I can't. I have something on."

There must have been something telling in her tone when she said 'something on', because Lacey pounced on her instantly. "What's something?" Her friends looked at her inquisitively. She caved in under their stares. "Fine, don't make a big fuss about it, but I'm going out for coffee later."

"What's so great about going out for coffee later?" Leo scrunched up his nose. "And why would you choose going out for coffee alone over us? Are we that bad?" Katie smacked him upside the head. "No, stupid. She's going out on a date." Comprehension dawned on his face. "Oh, _that's_ why you bailed on us."

"With who?" Lacey leaned forward, her voice hushed. Piper was getting increasingly uncomfortable under all the scrutiny. "Err- Will."

"Will as in Will 'six pack and football player' Solace?" Lacey was gaping at her. "Well, there's only one, is there?" "Piper, you got a good one."

"He's cool, I guess." Piper tapped listlessly at her plate with her fork and tried to divert the conversation somewhere else. "Anyway, what games are y'all playing today? I might come over later afterwards." Leo perked up at this. He was evidently feeling left out during all the girl talk. "Halo 4! Also Mario Kart, if the girls think they're up for the challenge."

"We will beat you left, right and centre. Get ready to be in 12th place," Katie smirked at him confidently. "Of course, if I'm feeling generous, I'll let you win." He winked. "You know I can't resist a lady's charms."

Katie glared at him ferociously and Lacey burst out. "Don't hit on her, Leo!" Katie looked slightly surprised that Lacey was rooting for her. "Thanks." "Her and Travis Stoll are meant to be. Don't you dare get between their love!" She enunciated each word while pommeling Leo with her fists. Katie spluttered. "Lacey!"

Piper joined the conversation, laughing, inwardly glad that the focus had shifted away from her. "Who's Travis?" Lacey grinned. "Katie's arch-nemesis. They've hated each other since their first day of elementary school." Piper was confused. "But if they hate each other, why do you think they're meant to be?" Ignoring Katie's protests, Lacey leaned forward with a knowing smile.

"There's a very fine line between hate and love, Piper dear."

…

By the time Piper got to her last class of the day, English, she was completely beat. The only thing that kept her going was the thought of the upcoming date with Will.

Fifteen minutes later, the teacher had yet to make an appearance. An office staff popped her head into the room. "Your English teacher has gone home because she has fallen ill. She instructs you to carry on with your project." She left.

The class immediately erupted into a cacophony of chatter. Jason turned to Piper resignedly. "What do you want to do?" He clearly wasn't expecting her to say anything productive. "We've got the basic content down, we can get to designing the poster." "Sure."

She got out a few coloured pens and started drafting out boxes on a piece of paper. She was trying out different designs for font when a large shadow loomed over her. "What's up, sweet cheeks?" Dylan smirked at her. "What say you and me go to my house tonight and see how that goes?" He wasn't looking her in the eye so much as he was staring at her body.

"What?" Piper looked at him uncomprehendingly. His voice was so slurred in his attempt to be cool that she hadn't understood a single word of whatever he was saying. "You playing hard to get, girl?" Dylan exchanged fist bumps with his friends, who were hooting and cheering him on. He leaned down to her level, and the onion in his breath made her cringe. She titled her face away.

"Don't worry. You can play this game all you like, but sooner or later, I will have you be mine and mine only," he leered. Piper snapped. "Did I hear you right?"

Dylan's smug smile slipped away a little. "Yes?"

"Let me tell you something. My body is my business, and I own it. You have no right to go around 'claiming' girls as your property, or making your marks on us. We are our own people. We aren't something you can use for your own enjoyment, or objectify as you please." Piper crossed her arms in front of her defiantly. The classroom was silent.

Dylan seemed to remember that he had to keep his dignity impact. "What's your problem, man? How can you expect guys to not hit on you when you're dressed like that?" He gestured at her skinny jeans. "You're asking for it!" there were some murmurs of agreement from his cronies at the back of the class.

"What I wear is none of your business. If you can't control yourself, you are the one with the problem," Piper shrugged. Dylan growled at her. "Why you little-"

"That's enough," Jason stepped in between them. Dylan leered at her. "I'll get to you sooner or later. You'll see." He stomped off to his gang of friends at the back of the class, muttering angrily.

"Preposterous," Piper rolled her eyes as she stabbed her pen onto the paper angrily. Jason sat back in his seat. "Seriously, who does he think he is?"

"Piper, you're tearing a hole in the paper," Jason pointed out. "How can you be calm about this?" Piper slashed the hole deeper in the paper.

"All I'm saying is that you shouldn't give him the satisfaction of seeing you riled up." Piper stopped her furious scribbling. "Come again?" Jason looked slightly nervous as he repeated himself, as if he was scared Piper would turn onto him.

Piper paused for a moment. "That is very true," she mused. She played with the pen for a moment, twisting it nimbly between her fingers. "So what are we going to put at the bottom of the poster?" she asked abruptly. He seemed surprised, as if he had not expected her to accept his word that quickly.

She could feel his hard blue gaze on her as she continued scribbling the drafted plan of the poster, as if he was trying to pick her apart just by looking at him. "Quit staring," she told him, her eyes never leaving the paper.

"Is it tedious to be such a grouch all the time?" he inquired. "I imagine you must not be very pleasant to be around."

She smiled dryly at him. "You're right. I'm not."

…

Will was already in the café when she arrived.

"Sorry I'm late," she said a little breathlessly. "I got lost." He chuckled as he pushed the menu towards her. "I heard of your little altercation with Dylan."

Piper lifted her eyes from the menu. "Word travels fast." English had been the last period, and it seemed half the school already knew about her argument with Dylan in English class. "Yeah," he agreed. She was a little nervous- would his good opinion of her change after knowing what she did? It was admittedly not one of her best moments, yet it wasn't one she was ashamed of.

"That was very brave of you. Not many people tell it like it is." She looked up to see Will looking at her admiringly. "I thought people would shun me since Dylan's popular, and all. Besides, not many people are willing to come to terms with the notion of gender equality. It's not a highly respected issue in this misogynistic society," she sighed.

"You're right. People don't like to confront the fact that women have the same capabilities and rights as men. It's hard to even find someone who's willing to talk about it openly." He smiled at her briefly. "Shall we order?"

When the coffee and brownies came, they were already deep in discussion on what it was like to live with a famous parent. Piper was pleasantly surprised to find that she wasn't the only one who moved around a lot. "My dad comes home really late at night," she said with a roll of her eyes. "It's like his sleep schedule is programmed to be constantly at five hours of sleep."

"Tell me about it," Will said as they dug into their brownies. "Mom is always telling me I don't spend enough time with her, but it's rather hard to do so when she only comes back at eleven at night after some premiere. Her sleep schedule so needs fixing."

"You know who could fix it? Leo. That kid is one of the best mechanics I've ever seen," Piper smiled fondly as she recalled the spunky Latino twisting a wire around in a mini-fan Katie swore would never work again, and Leo had fixed it in under ten seconds.

Will looked at her with a strangely blank face. "Leo Valdez?"

"Yeah," she nodded. "Do you know him?" "Not personally, no." There was a brief silence. "Are you two, you know…?" He made a few hand gestures with his hands, waving them around. Piper caught his drift.

"No!" she laughed. "Leo's like a little brother to me. And besides, he's too much of a ladies' man to settle down properly." Will visibly relaxed. "Ah."

Piper inwardly cursed herself. What was it that her friends had said- don't mention other guys in front of your date? She smacked herself mentally. How had she been so stupid? Gods, this dating thing was so hard, and so tedious. How could people do this for fun?

They were finishing their brownies, Piper sipping on her juice. "I'm glad that he's just your friend," Will spoke up.

Piper smiled at him. Maybe the tedious part of dates would be worth it. "I'm glad, too."

 _I know I'm sORRY there's really no excuse for taking so long to update it this time nanowrimo will be over soon and I'll update more hopefully ;) also thank you for the lovely reviews y'all are so nice omg :') For the person who asked, yes I do ship Solangelo 100% even though it was a little underdeveloped in BoO, but I think it has loads of potential and I love the whole idea of it. And as you can tell from this chapter, I have a LOT to say about gender roles and stereotypes so hence the rant in the story. I also want to take this opportunity to add that girls are not the only ones who face unrealistic expectations based on their gender roles- boys do too. Gender roles and standards are something no one should ever have to conform to. That being said, have a great day keep smiling and stuff xx_


	12. The Nature of Plans

"Nice work, kids. Now off the field in five seconds!" Coach Hedge yelled at the football players.

"We'll crush it on Friday, guys," Jason said encouragingly to his exhausted team. The guys cheered half-heartedly as they headed to the locker room. When they got out, Reyna was waiting for him outside, as always. She turned and smiled at him as he neared, a stack of folders in her hands.

"Hey, Jason, it's your girlfriend," Travis Stoll, the running back for the team, sniggered. Jason made a face at him. "Ha, very funny. You know that we aren't dating."

"It's been so many years, Jason. Hey, if you get together in two months tell me first, okay? I made a bet with Connor." He ran off in the opposite direction, leaving Jason to stare after him, annoyed.

"Had a good practice?" Reyna asked. It would have sounded caring, but her tone had a flat quality to it, as if she were asking only because it was expected of her to do so. "Last practice before the Homecoming game, so it has to be good," he replied.

"It will be good, don't stress about it." Even though she was telling him to not stress, her own eyes were shadowed with dark circles, the telltale signs that she hadn't been sleeping well. It was hard to tell, but Jason had learnt to see past her put together appearance of the well-fitted skirt and straightened collar shirt to see that she was putting a little more concealer under her eyes than usual, and that her to-do folder was thicker than on most normal days. "How about you?" he asked.

"I'm good," she replied tightly. Her tone said, "don't ask". Jason backed off the topic immediately. "So how's that Psychology essay coming along?"

…

"Piper, 57%."

She groaned as she stood to take her Calculus test paper from the teacher, catching a sympathetic glance from Will, who was sitting at the other side of the classroom. Katie, who sat next to her in Calculus, did not miss this exchange.

"I saw that," she muttered. "Lacey will have a field day if she knew."

"Doesn't matter," Piper said off-handedly. "What matters is that I'm close to failing Calculus, and that it'll taint the rest of my grades."

Katie shot a look at her out of the corner of her eye. "Didn't know you were the type to care about grades."

"Everyone cares about grades, regardless of how much they show it. It's a kind of societal pressure we're forced to conform to. Our worth is dictated by our grades." Piper heaved a sigh. "Sorry. Got a little deep there."

"You know, I think you'll do great at the Debate club. I know the president," Katie said, scrutinizing her. Piper made a face. "No thanks. I'm not really one for all those clubs and all." In her old schools, she only joined them when they were compulsory, and she always found them dry, and most clubs were either so tight-knit that she was unable to be included (no surprise there) or so competitive that its members were constantly competing with each other, making it extremely messy, disorganized and poorly run.

"Besides," she added. "I'm already taking Theatre Arts, which seems like a club on it's own." Needless to say, it was the class that she put the least effort into. Annoyingly, try as she might, she could never seem to fail the class. She was especially annoyed one lesson when the teacher gave her the highest grade in the class for a project that she'd barely put any effort into. "You have a true gift for Theatre, Piper," she'd said. _But I hate it_ , she thought. Did it matter more to do something you were good at, or to do something you loved?

"Where's Leo?" Piper asked as she surveyed the cafeteria at lunch.

"I don't know- I had a class with him just a minute ago. He rushed off as soon as the bell rang," Hazel shrugged. Leo chose that moment to swagger into the seat next to Piper. "What's up?"

"Leo!" Hazel and Piper exclaimed in unison. The front of his shirt was covered in what looked like mashed potatoes, contrasting with the giant grin on his face. "What happened?"

"He tried to ask Drew to the Homecoming dance," Katie answered for him, shooting him a disdainful look as she settled into the seat diagonally across from Piper. "I saw the whole thing. In fact, the entire line at the food collection area saw the whole thing." Leo smiled an easygoing smile. "Just a little misunderstanding-"

"Leo, she splattered her entire plate of mash potatoes on your shirt," Katie deadpanned. "Do you think that's 'a little misunderstanding'?"

"But the Homecoming dance is this weekend!" Leo cried. "The ladies' man has to have a date! It'll ruin my reputation!"

"What reputation?" Hazel muttered under her breath, which did not go unheard by any of them. Leo pouted. "I've got to go with _someone_." He turned a puppy dog look to Hazel. "No," Hazel said flatly before Leo even had a chance to say anything. "I'm going with Frank Zhang."

"Katie, I don't think you have a date yet-" "Thanks for the lack of confidence in me, Leo, but I have one already."

"Then you, Piper." Leo propped his chin up on his hands and gave her a pleading expression. Piper ran a hand through her hair, which was already returning to its usual disheveled state under her inexperienced care. Her split ends and rats' nests seemed to be returning. "I think Will might be asking me to go with him," she said uncertainly. "But he hasn't said anything, but," she reddened slightly, making Hazel grin. "I'm kind of hoping he might ask me."

"Atta girl," Katie smacked her on the back, accidentally making her choke on her food. Leo put his head down on the table, muttering under his breath about how the whole world was against him. "Every girl I've asked out so far has rejected me," he complained.

"Maybe the way you ask them is wrong?" Piper suggested. Hazel snorted. "That's an understatement." She made her voice greasy and suggestive, in a horrible impression of Leo. "Hey, young lass. Guess who has a pair of totally kissable lips and is willing to take you on a date you'll never forget? This guy!" She pulled a face and started doing jazz hands.

Piper and Katie burst out laughing. Leo scowled. "Don't tell me you actually did that!" Piper gasped in between spasms of laughter. His silent scowl was all the confirmation they needed.

When the laughter finally petered out, Leo jumped in, eager to stop the laughter at his expense. "Well, if you ladies are so good with getting dates, maybe you can give me some advice on how to get a girl."

"That's going to be hard, since it's you," Katie earned a whine from Leo. "But we'll try." "Don't come on too strong," Piper suggested. "Give her a little something to show you're sincere," Hazel chipped in. "And don't-" "Slow down!" Leo mimicked taking notes with an air pencil. "This is too many things to remember," he complained. "I'm going to do it in Uncle Leo style. The ladies love Uncle Leo!"

The girls exchanged looks as he left the table. "Five bucks he can't get a date?" Katie said to Piper under her breath.

"You're on." Piper grinned.

…

Jason and Piper had just finished arranging all the materials for the poster when the teacher announced that there would be a pop quiz instead of the initially promised session for them to make their final preparations to their project, which was due the Monday following Homecoming.

"But there isn't any time left," Piper said in dismay, upon checking the lesson plan. They were standing in the corridor outside the classroom after the lesson, having to vacate it for the use of another class. "There isn't anymore allocated slots for the project."

"Even if we did, we would need way more time than just one lesson on the poster," Jason's eyes scanned their rough sketch of the poster. Though they disagreed often on the simplest matters (it had become almost second nature for her to be disagreeable to his every opinion), they were admittedly a good team. They almost always seemed to come to a compromise, and Piper let herself believe up to that moment that they had the possibility of getting a good grade.

"Forget it, I'll just bring it home and complete it," Jason heaved a sigh. Piper objected immediately. "I can't let you do it on your own!" she exclaimed. Seeing the hints of a smile dart it's way onto his face, she quickly added, "You might mess it up."

"Then how would you suggest we do this?" He said exasperatedly. "I'll bring it home to do," Piper said decidedly. "Certainly not, for _you_ might mess it up," he retorted. They glared at each other for a moment. Jason broke away first, and Piper felt a childish burst of victory.

"We could meet at one of our houses," he ventured. She looked at him in surprise- she rarely went to any of her friend's homes, let alone bring them to her own home, having never formed any friendship that close before. And she wasn't even sure Jason could be considered as her friend. "Not my house." Piper winced at the thought of having any schoolmate over- the grandeur of her house that her father had insisted upon was vaguely embarrassing.

"My house, then." Jason concluded. He scrawled an address on a corner of her notebook. She watched his steady writing swoop across the paper. "Your parents will be okay with it?" She hadn't forgotten the fact that Mr. Grace probably viewed her dimly.

A smile ghosted its way across his face. "I'd be more worried if they were actually around to see it." His expression was wistful and bitter and defeated all at the same time. Piper found that she understood completely. A lack of parental presence- that was something she was more than familiar with.

"Anyway," he seemed to pull himself together, and the confident, friendly Jason the student body knew was back. "How about one in the afternoon on Saturday?"

…

The time of the year came for the heavy monsoon rains that plagued the town, and Piper had barely ducked into the café Will had arranged for them to meet when it started to pour buckets.

"Thank God for my timing," she said laughingly, but halted at once at his serious manner. He'd already ordered two cups of coffee- a cappuccino for her, which she personally disliked, but sipped at it out of courtesy- and regarded her in a rather upset manner.

"What is it?" she asked. "Surely you have not called for me to meet you here for nothing." The café he had chosen was dimly lit, probably with the intention of giving off a romantic vibe, but she found the darkness rather disconcerting. He cleared his throat a little awkwardly.

"I'm sure you're aware that Homecoming is this Friday," he began. She inclined her head to acknowledge so. She felt her hopes rise- perhaps her earlier reservations about going to the dance with Leo were not baselessly found upon. "And I have had, prior to yesterday, every intention of asking you to it."

Her feelings were mixed- ' _have had'_?

"However, my uncle, who lives in New York, has recently been taken seriously ill. We're going to fly over the weekend to see him, and we're leaving on Friday night, immediately after the game," he said gravely.

Her compassion rushed forefront. "Of course you must see him," she touched his arm with a smile. "Let the dance be the least of your worries." He smiled at her gratefully. "I knew you would understand. But I have another request to make of you, one that may seem a little selfish."

She raised an eyebrow. "Oh?"

"Might I request that while I am unable to take you to the dance, for you to not attend with anyone else?" Seeing her surprised expression, which he took for shock, he hastily corrected himself. "I'm sorry, I did not mean to-" "You have nothing to be sorry for," she smiled reassuringly.

While Piper privately did not particularly like to be restrained or restricted, Will's face was too open and ardent and hopeful for her to deny him. She had indeed been quite eager to attend a dance at Jupiter High, having heard that it was a little more lavish than the average high school dance, due to it's generous benefactors. However, she supposed it was quite nice of him to still keep her in his thoughts even while his uncle was ill. "I will accept your request."

His white-toothed smile made her even surer that she'd made the right decision.

this is the fifth time I'm uploading this smh apparently the first time it turned out wonky and the other three times ugh :( anyway thanks to allgirlstreehouse for alerting me to the weird text the first time I uploaded it! have a great day xx


	13. Rain and Unrest

The sky was grey with the threat of rain when Piper stepped out of the house that afternoon.

It was a little after noon, and she gripped the scrap of paper with Jason's address in her hand as she slipped out of the back door, her laptop shoved into a small backpack and her phone in her hand, earphones stuffed haphazardly into her ears.

Jane had gone out to run an errand earlier in the morning after making Piper breakfast, confident in her assumption that Piper wouldn't have anything to do that day, and would spend the afternoon lazing in her room, as was her usual Saturday. Jane had said that she would return around six to make dinner for Piper (which she really didn't see the necessity of- it had been years since she had a proper takeout meal), so Piper's plan was to return at five, so she would be back in time for Jane's return.

The gusts of wind blew her hair around her face as they dashed across the streets, uncommon for an afternoon in California. A few bikers were sitting out on someone's front lawn, taking long drags of cigarettes. She caught a snippet of their conversation as she walked past. "Nah, man. I'd totally go for Aladdin. He has the whole troublemaker vibe going on." She hid the grin that flitted across her face as a little girl on a bike laughed gleefully as she raced past her friend, who pouted as he pedalled harder to catch up with her. All these commodities of a suburban neighbourhood- it was a part of all she'd missed when her father became famous and they started to take 'precautions' to ensure her safety. She hadn't travelled on foot in ages.

Even now, the hood of her snowboarding jacket was pulled over her head as she tried to walk in an unassuming manner, hoping not to draw too much attention to herself. She doubted that anyone would notice her though- not on this lazy afternoon, with barely anyone on the streets.

As she entered Jason's neighbourhood, her music paused momentarily as her phone vibrated with the buzz that signalled a text message. It was a text from Lacy, a photo of a bunch of their friends at the dance the previous night. They were all grinning at the camera, bedecked in shiny, reflective clothes. Leo had his arm around a pretty girl with caramel hair, which meant that Piper had lost her bet with Katie. The latter was smiling next to Travis Stoll, looking surprisingly happy for someone who'd claimed to be his sworn enemy just the previous week. Hazel had her arm around a burly Asian boy with a beaming smile, Frank.

 _Wish you'd been with us!_ Her message read. Piper replied with a smiley face and clicked off her phone as she came to a halt in front of the address on the paper. She stuffed the scrap into the back pocket of her jeans as she arched her head back and surveyed the house. All the houses in the neighbourhood had a stoic uniformity- the same grey and white terraces that were about three stories high, complete with panelled windows to give an elegant, rich setting.

The cream curtains at the window of the bedroom on the second floor were drawn, giving the house a very cold, empty atmosphere. The front lawn was perfectly trimmed, with no sign that indicated any homeliness to the place- no bicycles parked in the drive, no flowers on the lawn, just cold grey stone steps inlaid into the ground, forming a path to the front door. She caught a glimpse of Drew Tanaka's car parked in the garage of the neighbouring house, and briefly wondered what kind of horror it must be like to be neighbours with such a character.

She carefully picked her way to the front door, surprised at the lack of security for the house of someone who owned a large chain of businesses. Perhaps few suspected that such an ordinary, mundane house could belong to the CEO of Grace Holdings, though it was admittedly in a high-end neighbourhood.

She pressed the doorbell after a moment's hesitation, hearing the chime echo through the house. She waited for a few moments before none other than Jason's sister flung the door open. Thalia cocked her head at her. "Come to reconsider the fact that you and Jason aren't friends?"

Piper reddened slightly (or maybe it was the California heat) as she remembered what she'd said to Thalia the first time they'd met. "No- we have an English project together. Believe me, not my choice."

Thalia chuckled. She stepped aside to let Piper in. "Rare to find someone not interested in my baby brother. Nice change. Jason's room is on the top floor." She grabbed a leather jacket from the stand next to the door and darted out, leaving Piper standing alone in the living room of the huge house.

The floor was white marble- there was a grey rug that looked expensive on the floor of the living area, where cream sofas were situated in front of the television. A vase of fake flowers stood in the coffee table, their bright petals the brightest thing in the house. Paintings in monochrome shades hung from the walls- there were no family pictures whatsoever, only a giant crest of Grace Holdings' logo above the television. A piano stood in a corner of the room, under the staircase, which was glass, so it was slightly dizzying as she ascended the stairs, seeing the top of the piano below her feet.

There were two doors next to each other on the third floor, right in front of the landing of the staircase. A narrow corridor spanned the length of the living room below, overlooking it in such a way that the sofa was tiny from here. The door on the right was decorated with posters of Green Day and Fall Out Boy, with 'Do Not Enter' signs that resembled those on hotel doors stuck all over it amongst the posters. It was evidently a personal collection, with hotel signs from Disneyland hotels and other hotels from all over the world. It was possibly the only sign of character the house showed, if Jason followed his parents' taste in interior design.

She raised her hand to the door and rapped on it three times. A crash was heard from the room, followed by a muffled yell. A moment later, Jason appeared at the door, grimacing as he held his pinky gingerly. She raised an eyebrow.

"Do I want to know?" He moved to close the door behind her. "I knocked my textbook over and it fell on my finger."

Piper rolled her eyes, holding back a smile as she took in Jason's room. "Sorry, it's a little messy." At 'a little messy', Jason's room was neater than her room had ever been. There was a laundry basket next to the door, with all his clothes piled into it, and trophies from various sporting events adorned the shelves next to his four-poster bed. Piper walked over to a glass case next to his study table, where pictures in gilded frames filled the top two levels. She saw Reyna and Jason as kids, dressed in matching Halloween costumes. Reyna's smile was bright and real, looking nothing like the uptight girl the student body knew. There was a picture of Jason as a baby, sitting in the lap of a woman with black hair like Thalia's. "Your mom?" she guessed.

Jason blanched visibly, and Piper immediately knew that she'd hit a sensitive topic. "Yeah," he replied shortly. She drew her laptop out of her bag and opened it, making herself comfortable on the plywood floor of his room. "Shall we get started?"

It was half past four when Piper put the finishing touches to the poster, sitting back to admire her work. "Looks great," Jason said, pressing the enter key with a flourish. "I'm done with the essay bit too." He clicked away on his keyboard for a few moments while Piper finished the third packet of chips. Much to her surprise, snacks did exist in the Grace household, even though Jason himself didn't eat them often. "They're Thalia's," he'd explained when the pair went down to the kitchen on a 'study break'.

Jason pressed a button on his laptop and the printer on his desk started churning out their essay. Piper busied herself with the clasp of her bag. Jason's phone, which had been sitting silently on the table until that moment, gave a loud beep, making both Jason and Piper jump.

Jason grabbed his phone somewhat sheepishly, frantically pressing at the buttons at the side to mute it. Piper hid a grin behind her hand at Jason's flustered expression, and schooled her features into what she hoped was a neutral and unaffected look. She saw his eyebrows jump up from the corner of her eye, and he leaped up and threw his curtains open.

"No way," he said disbelievingly. Piper joined him at the window and gaped at the sight. The pounding rain on the glass was making it hard to see past a few meters, but from what she could make out, the street was entirely flooded. The water level wasn't too high, but a car had stopped in the middle of the street, it's owner sat on the roof with an umbrella. The water looked about knee-deep.

"Apparently it's a drainage problem in the downtown area," Jason reported as he flicked his thumb across his screen and laughed wryly. "I thought Thalia was joking when she said that she couldn't come home because her 'her motorcycle couldn't float'." He made air quotes around his head. Piper chuckled dryly. "Must be a great day for fishes over at the park."

Jason surprised her by bursting out into genuine laughter, which Piper joined in after a few surprised moments. Then her heart sank as she glanced down at her phone and registered the timestamp. "Crap," she muttered. It was a quarter to five, and Jane could be back any moment, though if the situation was like this throughout town, she would hopefully be stranded somewhere else. Still, Jane would have her head if she were to return to find Piper missing. "I've got to go."

She picked up her bag and clattered hurriedly down the glass steps of the Grace household. Jason caught up to her just as she reached the front door. She was about to wrench the door open when she found him blocking her path. "Are you crazy?" he demanded. "It's literally pouring out there, and it's flooded!"

"It's not that deep," Piper muttered, though she could begin to feel doubt seeping into the corners of her mind. "You're not going out there. The water is probably rushing from downtown, and it's still raining, which means that the current is going to be freakishly strong. You'll be knocked over before you can even take two steps out there."

"You're over-exaggerating," Piper tried to fill her voice with it's usual bravado. "I must really be going."

"You mustn't." His blue eyes bore into her.

"I must." "You mustn't."

"I must."

"You mustn't."

"I mustn't."

"Ha!" Jason exclaimed triumphantly as Piper scowled fiercely. These word play games used to be her forte when she was a kid, and she would win over everyone on the playground. It seemed that she had gotten a little rusty.

"Anyway, it's getting close to dinner, and I make great curry. You won't regret it, I promise!" His eager-to-please grin was so infectious she couldn't help herself from following him into the kitchen. After all, Jane couldn't possibly be back home yet, she reassured herself. She would just leave later and sneak in through the back door.

As it turned out, Jason did _not_ know how to make curry. Some time later, a bowl of suspiciously red liquid sat on the kitchen counter, with more curry powder and paste on the table than in the bowl. Piper watched from her position slouching against the fridge, cracking up in laughter as Jason attempted to scoop the spilt curry paste into the bowl. "What a flop," Piper snorted.

Jason mock-glared at her as he wiped the back of his hands on his forehead. "You wait till you taste it, I promise." He carefully poured the bowl of liquid into a pot, throwing in some half-frozen pieces of chicken and hastily dropped a few chopped potatoes in. Piper shook her head, the corners of her eyes still creased upwards in laughter.

She joined him at the table as they set to work, cleaning the table. "Our housekeeper usually does the cooking," he explained. "Thalia can cook pretty well, though. Must be from running the café. On the other hand…" He gestured to himself in a self-deprecating manner. "I can't cook either," Piper assured him.

"Housekeeper?" he asked. The undertones of his voice confirmed what she'd suspected- he had recognised her that night of the gala. She nodded guardedly. He seemed to guess what she was thinking. "Piper McLean, huh? No wonder you don't share your surname around."

"You're not going to spread it around, are you?" she asked warily as she dumped the dirty cloth in the sink. "I won't." He said it with so much sincerity and asperity that Piper could believe that he was genuine about it. She half-smiled as he continued. "Anyway, being the son of the CEO of Grace Holdings isn't too nice either. Thankfully, no one really pays attention to the business world. Plus, the Grace name seems to be fairly common."

"Hollywood has it the worst," Piper sighed. She remembered the first time the paparazzi had mobbed their house, right after her father's first movie came out. It was a hit, which naturally meant that he was the centre of all the gossip. They'd moved the very next day. "Tell me about it," Jason grinned as he picked up a ladle and began to stir at the curry.

Suddenly, Piper's phone burst into song- she had a call. She hastily pulled it out- really, it was time to move on from having the theme song of that TV show she watched as a kid as her ringtone- and paled when she saw the Caller ID, muttering an unladylike curse under her breath. It was Jane. Piper winced and turned her back to Jason as she reluctantly picked up.

"Piper," Jane began frostily. "Where are you?"

Piper could feel Jason's eyes on her. "Um, a friend's house- we're doing a project." "How dare you sneak out? You were supposed to stay at home! Can you imagine how I felt when I called the house phone time and time again to have no one reply?" Jane's injured tone made it sound like she'd been worried about Piper's welfare, but Piper knew better. Jane's job was on the line, and it was the time of the year when her father usually gave out bonuses. She had probably been hoping for an extra large check, on top of the usual exorbitant amount he paid her to boss him around.

"It's nothing, I swear, it was only a ten minute walk away-" "Don't you sass me, young lady. I always knew you were a devil child to begin with. If this is ever repeated, I promise I will get you shipped off to boarding school in Maine!" Jane was screeching so shrilly that Piper was sure Jason could hear every word loud and clear even though the phone wasn't even on speaker mode.

"Now, you will give me your friend's address, and I will drive round to pick you up as soon as this flood is over." Piper sullenly repeated Jason's address to Jane. "And don't you dare take a step out of that place until I am parked at the curb," Jane finished and hung up the phone with a click.

Shaken and annoyed, Piper slid her phone into her back pocket as she turned back around. Jason was studiously trying to seem like nothing had happened, ladling the curry out into a bowl. "You don't have to pretend you didn't hear it," she said quietly.

Jason lifted his eyes from the bowl. "Sounds tough." Piper remembered the yells from outside the bedroom door while they had been on video call. "You and me both, it seems," she sighed. He cracked a smile, and she stared- unbelievable, considering the circumstances. "What's so funny?" she demanded.

"Now that you're actually prevented from leaving," he held up the bowl of curry. "Curry?"

you can of course imagine my horror when my sister told me to "hurry up and update your story" in the middle of a family dinner, mainly because "how on earth did you find my fanfiction?" "yeah you have 39 reviews" so yeah now there will be someone constantly reminding me to update my story great also I'm going to be uploading a one-shot soon (ha) so stay tuned for that! have a fantastic and festive (Christmas is coming y'all) day! xx


	14. Split-Second Decisions

(this chapter is dedicated to my flop of a sister. take this as your late Christmas present idk)

For once, Piper was in class before Jason arrived.

After a particularly exhausting student council meeting, he'd tried his best to gather his wits for the presentation ahead. The deadlines of other projects and assignments weighed heavily on his mind as he slipped his phone into his pocket and walked into class.

"You ready?" Piper smiled briefly at him as he sat down, shuffling through her cue cards. She seemed to be going for a more put-together look for their presentation that day, with the absence of her usual tattered jeans and boots. Instead, she was wearing a black sweater with 'I'd rather listen to music than to you' on the front in Comic Sans over a grey flannel, and her jeans were considerably clean and unwrinkled. If he was hard-pressed to do so, he might admit that she didn't look bad at all.

Piper gave him a once-over with her unsettling multicoloured eyes. In his less occupied states, he sometimes wondered how someone's eyes could flash from blue to grey to green to brown in a split second. "You look like crap," she concluded. "Have you eaten at all today?"

He belatedly realised that he hadn't. "Um, no." Piper pulled a granola bar out of the front pocket of her bag. "Eat up, Grace. I'm not having you ruining this presentation because your energy level is only at fifty percent."

"I can't," Jason said reluctantly. "No eating in class." Piper rolled her eyes expressively. "I can't believe you. Just duck under the table and eat it."

He shook his head and darted out of the classroom, hurriedly finishing the bar just as he saw the teacher head down the corridor. "Thanks," he muttered to her. "Don't get used to it," she replied. "I know."

"And that is why we believe gender inequality is a pressing issue that needs to be fixed in today's society," Piper finished. "Any questions?" Jason added.

The usual silence that followed every presentation prior echoed around the room.

"That's all the presentations for the day, then!" The teacher exclaimed in apparent relief as they moved back to their seats. Jason rolled up the poster and deftly bound it with an elastic band. Piper had started to toy with the ends of her hair, attempting to run her fingers through the tangled ends, a nervous habit he couldn't help but notice. He watched her subtly out of the corner of his eye, privately thinking that her hair looked just fine, though he knew that if he were to voice that opinion, he would be more likely to get a lecture on how he shouldn't dictate how a girl chose to present herself than to achieve any actual intended effect.

"And the results will be released at the end of the week." The teacher checked her watch. "There's ten minutes left to the bell, so I'll leave you to sit quietly in class while I bring your essays down." She strode out of the room quickly.

Piper slung her bag onto one shoulder. "I would say nice working with you, but it's been fairly average, so…" The gleam in her eyes was the only hint that she was only joking. Then again, one could never be sure with Piper.

"Yeah." He had an inexplicable urge to want to say more than that, and tried to source around for a conversation topic, so that the end of this project might not mean the end of their- well, whatever it was. "Um- is everything ok with err- Jane and all?" He could tell by the way the light in her eyes dimmed that he'd hit a sensitive topic, and wanted to smack his forehead in exasperation. Of all topics, he had to go and choose that one. Well done, Jason.

Piper played with the hem of her sweater for a few agonisingly long moments before replying. "She was mad, obviously. I've never liked her, opportunistic gold digger she is. All she cares is that my father gets to as many premieres as possible so that it'll better his reputation and increase her pay."

Jason nodded sympathetically. He too had had his share of witnessing many of such money-driven individuals in his father's company. Wealth had a way of making men its puppets. "She even wants to send me to boarding school to keep me hidden away, because she thinks that having a teenage daughter in the press will take the actual attention off him," Piper continued. She drained the water from her plastic bottle and scored a perfect hit into the bin. "I don't think she gets that I've never ever wanted fame at all."

"I know," he agreed. "Some adults are so blind to the fact that what they think isn't always the truth."

Piper eyed him curiously. "That's meanest thing I've ever heard you say about anyone. Good job."

He flushed in spite of himself and tried hastily to backtrack. "I mean, they can be a bit wrong, sometimes, but they're just doing what they think is best for us-"

"Oh, hush." Piper laughed, showing her teeth. Her eyes crinkled at the corners when she smiled. "That's not a bad thing. To think badly of someone, I mean. As long as you don't generalise or stereotype, it's fine. If you refuse to see any flaws in everyone, you're going to be one miserable person. You've got to be honest with yourself- if anyone is treating you like crap, they're not worth your time and you should drop them from your life."

Jason shook his head in wonder. "I never got the impression you were this wise."

She turned pink and tried to bat the compliment away vaguely. Clearly, she wasn't used to receiving compliments, though he thought that by right, she should receive them often. "I spend a lot of time on the Internet. You learn things about society and morals from there. If you go to the right places, that is. And from songs- most songs are just mainstream and shallow, about heartbreaking and partying and such. But some songs really have hidden meanings that are really deep and actually reflects a lot about society."

Her eyes lit up when she talked about music. He'd always thought that it was amazing to see someone talk about the things they were passionate in. People were always so much more interesting when they had interests and passions. And her- to him, Piper McLean was an incredibly interesting- and intriguing- person.

In the hopes of getting her to continue her discourse into music, he asked. "What sort of music do you like to listen to?" She grinned- this question was an obvious favourite with her- and launched into an animated talk.

…

Leo came up to Piper as she was on her way to the cafeteria for lunch that way, nearly making her jump out of her skin when he sneaked up on her and clapped her on the back.

"Beauty Queen!"

"God, Leo! You scared the living daylights out of me!" Piper exclaimed as she shoved him, none too gently either.

"Be on your guard at all times…" Leo said in a mock serious tone, making his voice deep and rumbly, which sounded comical coming from a boy with the build of an elf. Piper couldn't help cracking a smile.

The lunch table they sat at was extra crowded that day- Travis Stoll slid casually into the seat next to Katie with his brother, Connor, five minutes into lunch, and Frank and Hazel joined the table together. "My word, I feel like more of a third wheel than usual," Leo complained. "At least I'm not the only dude at this table anymore."

Piper belatedly remembered her bet with Katie, and silently slid a five-dollar note over to her. Katie grinned as she pocketed it, wiggling her eyebrows at Leo. "Thank goodness you got a date at the last minute, for I am now five dollars richer."

"You two bet on me?" Leo said indignantly. "How was I to know that you'd be able to get someone to go out with you? God, I wonder how much money you paid her," Piper jested playfully.

"Calypso agreed to go with me out of her own free will!" Leo protested. "And I bet she had serious regrets about that," Piper muttered under her breath, but loud enough for everyone at the table to hear, making most of them scoff. "We're going on a second date tomorrow," Leo said proudly. At that, everyone stared. There was a brief silence.

"Oh wow," Travis said. He was the first to recover and went back to eat. From what Piper heard about the Stoll brothers, who were both on the football team, they had a reputation for being mischievous and rebellious, which Piper didn't think would exactly be Katie's type. Katie, who was responsible and down-to-earth, looked unlikely to go for a guy who was such a troublemaker (he and his brother apparently broke the school record for the number of detentions given in one year). They still weren't together, much to her chagrin. Katie had violently denied everything to do with him, and had insisted that they went to the dance 'as friends'. Though, from a first-hand recount from Lacey, they looked 'more than friendly'. Opposites attract, she presumed.

"I really need to meet this Calypso character now," Lacey shook her head. "She has to be the most tolerant person on earth." Katie laughed. "To put up with Leo, yes. We're talking about the person who messed with my gaming controls so he could win Mario Kart. Sneaky little-" "Oh yeah!" Leo interrupted her. "Have you told Piper about the gaming session today?"

This was obviously an attempt to get Katie to stop venting her annoyance at him, which worked as she immediately invited Piper to her house that afternoon. "We've invited quite a few people! Some of them not by my invite," she threw a dirty look to Lacey. "I invited Will," Lacey said, by way of explanation.

Piper felt her cheeks heat up. "Young love," Leo sighed, batting his eyelashes at her. "So pure, so sweet-"

Piper, whose face had reddened completely, certainly didn't have anything pure or sweet to say to him when she flicked a bit of mayonnaise from her sandwich onto his face.

"Beauty Queen!" Piper had already run away, laughing loudly. "Be on your guard at all times, Leo!"

…

The corridors were nearly deserted when Piper emerged out of the staff room, scowling.

She'd been called to see their math teacher after school that day, apparently because her math results were 'abominable' and 'in serious need of fixing'. After nearly half an hour of shrill lecturing, which ended with a threat to call her parents (parent, in her case) if she were to score less than a sixty percent on their next test.

She'd told the others to go on ahead without her, so Leo had messaged her the address. She'd told Jane that she was going to a friend's house (true), and that her friend would fetch her back (not true). Piper intended to return on foot, and say that her friend had dropped her off at the next street. Katie's house wasn't that far from her own, after all.

Because it was a Monday, most clubs didn't have practice sessions. Most students had left the school already. Piper, who was balancing a stack of extra math notes and her textbooks, was struggling with the lock on her locker. It was refusing to budge. After one particularly hard yank, the locker door burst open, making Piper stagger back and drop all of her notes.

Piper said a very unladylike word (there wasn't anyone around to hear her anyway) as she stooped to gather the scattered notes. As she was reaching to grab another pile of notes, someone bent down next to her and wordlessly gathered all the papers in one deft movement. She looked up to the face of the female student council president, and smiled gratefully as she took the papers from her.

"Homework?" Reyna asked, her voice sounding a little stiff, as if she wasn't used to making conversation. Apart from the occasional nods and greetings when they passed each other in the corridors, Piper usually didn't talk much to the dark-haired, uptight girl. "Extra practice. I'm not doing so well in Math," Piper said ruefully, then wondered if Reyna could even relate. Surely the president of the student council could never have achieved anything less than an A.

Reyna tucked a strand of hair behind her hair, and nodded non-committedly. "Good luck with that, then. Going home to study now?" Piper shook her head. "I'm going over to Katie's. She invited a bunch of people over to play video games."

"Have fun, then." She turned around abruptly to walk away, and even though she walked with her usual confident stride, Piper couldn't help but feel that she might be a little lonely. She made a split second decision. "Uh- do you want to come over too?"

Reyna looked astonished. Piper briefly remembered her first impression of Reyna, how she'd thought that the word 'fun' probably wasn't in her vocabulary. She began to think that it was a mistake, but then a hesitant smile broke over the other girl's face. "If it's okay with the rest of your friends."

…

Katie's house was a five-minute drive from school. Piper sat shotgun in Reyna's car, which was a small black Honda. She and Reyna occasionally made small talk as they approached the quiet neighbourhood near the school. The houses here were fairly small ones, each one different and unique, a mash of bright colours and sounds. Piper loved it.

Katie's house was painted a pastel blue, with all types of flowers blooming in the garden lining the stone path. A white picket fence surrounded the perimeter of the house and lace curtains blew in the autumn breeze, and a bright red bicycle was parked next to the door. A hand-painted sign on the front door read 'Gardner'. A few garden gnomes stood on the porch, where a small patio table and wooden chairs were. In short, it was the prettiest house Piper had ever seen.

She pressed the doorbell. Miranda, Katie's sister, opened the door. "They're in the basement" was all she said before she disappeared back up the stairs.

Loud yells were coming from the basement as Piper pushed the door open to find Connor throwing his control onto the floor in frustration as Leo punched the air in victory. "Yeah!" he crowed. "That's what Uncle Leo's made out of!" Piper rolled her eyes as she closed the door behind her. Katie looked up. "Hi Piper! Hi Reyna!" she said cheerfully from her position at the foot of the couch next to Travis.

Piper had texted Katie earlier that she was bringing Reyna, and if the others had any objections, they didn't voice them. Lacey scooted over to make space for them on the rug. "They're playing Halo 3," she explained. "After this round, it's the boys versus girls. Mario Kart."

"Have you played Mario Kart before?" Katie asked Reyna. She nodded, to Piper's slight surprise. She'd never pinned her down as one who played a lot of video games. "When I babysit my little cousin, I sometimes play it with him." "Cool." The other included Reyna in their conversation so naturally that an outsider would've thought that she was easily one of them in their group of friends.

"Hey," a familiar, musical voice said from behind her. Piper turned around to see that Will had somehow appeared behind her. "Hi," she said warmly. "How's your uncle doing?"

"Much better. He'll be out of the hospital soon."

"That's great!" Piper exclaimed.

Somewhere in the course of the next two hours, Will's arm slipped around her and rested across her shoulders. Piper firmly avoided the gleeful looks Lacey was throwing at her. As someone who'd never been in an actual relationship, she had no clue about what to do in these situations, no experience whatsoever. And it wasn't like her mom was going to give her dating advice, either. She noticed Reyna glancing at them briefly out of the corner of her eye once. She didn't know what that was about, but she seemed to be a lot friendlier towards Piper after that.

"Thanks for inviting me," Reyna said later. She'd insisted on sending Piper home, or at least to her street. After a glance at the darkening sky, she'd agreed. "I haven't played in a long time." Despite this, Reyna had managed to flatten everyone in Mario Kart, helping to bring the girls team of Katie, Reyna, Lacey and herself to victory. Even though Piper had had her reservations about how her friends would receive her, she could see them gradually warm up to her after a while, Reyna even exchanging a fist bump with Lacey when they beat Will and Connor in a race down a particularly tricky course.

"No problem," Piper replied. "You've got to let loose sometimes, you know?" Reyna shrugged. "I guess so." She didn't sound very convinced, though.

The car pulled up to the curb at the street her house was on. Piper hopped out. "Thanks for the lift."

 _happy new year, guys! this would've been uploaded yesterday but I couldn't edit it in time I'm a terrible procrastinator. I hope you enjoy this chapter! also go check out my playlist and stuff on my profile I'll update it for January soon! please leave a review if you have any feedback I do love reading your reviews they always make me smile :) have a great day xx_


	15. Bitter of Tongue

It was still dark when Piper stumbled out of bed.

"Damned alarm clock," she muttered.

Having stayed up till two the previous night catching up on a show, she was now feeling the aftereffects of her late night. Her head was pounding in protest even as she stepped into the shower, and almost immediately jumped back as freezing cold water splashed down onto her. She glared ferociously at the showerhead as if it'd personally offended her.

"Morning sweetie," Tristan McLean said from behind his newspaper. Piper helped herself to some toast. Her knotted hair was still damp from the shower. Every muscle in her body seemed to be aching, probably from the awkward position she'd sat in for hours while watching her show, not moving an inch. She'd hobbled down the stairs to the best of her ability, feeling her spine and neck creaking as she gingerly navigated her way downstairs.

"Have you told Piper about the good news?" Jane said suddenly. Her father grinned from ear to ear, the famous Tristan McLean grin that she had to put up with seeing everywhere, from magazines to online ads, and even billboards.

He slid a folded piece of paper across the table to Piper, wearing a very self-satisfied and pleased look on his face, in the manner of someone who had managed to accomplish a certain feat. She unfolded the paper. "Burberry Winter Collection? Dad, you know I never shop there-" He cut her off with a wave of his hand, gesturing for her to read on.

"Photo shoot at Burberry Fashion House- oh hell no," Piper pushed the paper away from her with a fingertip, as if she was disgusted by the mere contents of it. Tristan's face fell visibly, but he seemed to pull himself back together, as if steeling himself to say something. "I just thought it'd be a good experience for you-"

"For what?" Piper snapped. She took a deep breath, realising that she'd reacted a little too harshly, and began again in a more controlled tone. "Dad, I've already told you I'm not interested in the film industry whatsoever."

"This is not the film industry," Tristan seemed to gain back some of his traction. "Piper, when I was young, all I wanted to do was to pursue acting. I loved it, and I knew I wanted to do it. But Cherokee actors weren't common at all, and I gave up my dreams. Stopped going to acting classes, stopped participating in school plays. I became a secretary, running menial jobs for a reasonable salary, but I hated what I was doing. The best thing that happened to me from this was having you. Even after I became an actor, I still have regrets. A lot of roles aren't open up for me because of my age. To this day, I still wonder what more I could've accomplished if I'd just took the risk and jumped."

"Oh." Piper didn't know what else to say. Here her father was, baring out the contents of his soul and attempting to impart his wisdom to her sincerely, yet all she could think about was how to explain to her father that she had no interest in the Hollywood field at all, without looking as though she was being ungrateful and shoving her father's offer right back in his face.

"Please, Piper. I know I haven't been the best father," he swallowed visibly, "but if you'd let me _try_ to be one, I promise-" The look on his face was close to pleading, and it was heart wrenching to have to turn him down. "I don't want you to have the same regrets as I do."

Oh, gods. Piper's head was still aching. What a thing to deal with so early in the morning. "Dad, really-" she made a final feeble attempt to discourage him from the ridiculous idea. "Just once, Piper." She blew an exasperated puff of air from her mouth. She could see where she had inherited her sheer stubbornness from, and it seemed as though the parent who had gifted it to her had even more of an iron will than she had.

Piper thought the idea ridiculous. "Fine," she muttered. Her father grinned at her in an accomplished manner, and promptly drained his coffee. He stood up purposefully, as if he'd just ticked off yet another thing on his to-do list. Dropping a kiss on Piper's head, he picked up his briefcase (full of scripts and schedules of the sort) and strode out of the door, where his car was waiting in the driveway, his chauffeur patiently waiting.

Piper glanced down at the timestamp on her phone- they'd talked for a full five minutes. The corner of her mouth quirked up unexpectedly. Well, if this Hollywood business could draw so much time out of him… Piper was willing to sacrifice her dignity to drabble in this a little longer.

"Are you ready for school?" Jane asked, in her usual practical, businesslike manner. Piper picked up her bag from the floor and nodded, heading out of the door.

"The car isn't in the garage," Jane told her. Piper spun around and raised an eyebrow. Her father's assistant was standing on the porch, brushing off a piece of nonexistent lint from her immaculate suit. She seemed to be determinedly not meeting Piper's eyes.

"I parked it down the street." Piper found that slightly off. Jane never parked her car outside of their house, for her fear of 'hooligans' damaging her high-end car. Piper paused for a minute, trying to make sense of it. Jane made an impatient noise and gestured for Piper to follow her as she busied herself with typing in the security code to unlock the small side door leading out onto the street. "It's right in front of the door. Surely you can walk that distance."

Those suggestions that she was nothing but a spoiled brat made something snap inside of her, and she angrily strode to the gate and swung it open forcefully-

Light bulbs flashed in her face, yells everywhere. Piper looked about in panic as people with cameras spun about her, calling out.

"Piper! What do you think of your father's new role?"

"We hear you're going into modeling! Is this your father's influence?"

"Miss McLean, look over here please!"

"Piper!"

She swung round to stare at Jane. Her father's assistant looked calm and composed as usual, though almost too calm, considering the fact that a flood of paparazzi had found out their residence and had ambushed them outside their own home. Jane pushed Piper through the knot of people with the ease and experience of someone who'd done this a thousand times before. The lights of the camera were still flashing in Piper's eyes, even as the car purred off, leaving the paparazzi in the dust.

Something clicked together in Piper's head. "You called the paparazzi." It wasn't a question.

Jane didn't seem ruffled at all. She pushed her huge sunglasses to the top of her head as she navigated her way amongst the streets deftly. "You'll appreciate it later."

"Appreciate it?" Her voice cracked with anger.

"This is the life you will have to get used to, Piper," Jane said coolly. "It can be hard to adapt. I didn't expect any sort of gratefulness from you."

Piper was furious. She pulled out her phone from her pocket with shaking hands. "I'm telling Dad." She was aware of how childish she sounded, but she didn't care. All she knew was that it was going to be virtually impossible to keep her overwhelmingly huge secret under wraps from that moment on. It didn't matter which state she moved away to- Tennessee, Florida… the moment they got a clear picture of her on a front page of a magazine, Piper knew that she would never be free of it, this haunting monster she knew as fame, that took her father away from her, that changed her life for the worse-

"Don't bother." Jane said cuttingly. "He knows."

Piper froze. "What?"

"I said," Jane's eyes never left the road as she repeated calmly, "He knows about this. And he has approved it."

"Bullsh-"

"Mind your words, young lady," Jane said tartly. "And yes, your father has personally requested for me to 'take any necessary steps' that ensure you integrate well into this life. Which also means," she smiled coldly at Piper, who felt a chill run down her spine. She knew instinctively that what Jane was going to say next would be anything but good. "That I'm now your manager as well."

* * *

English was the last period of the day.

Jason had unconsciously sped up his walk to the English classroom, smiling vaguely at the students in the corridors as he passed them, as was his usual habit. After all, he had to keep up his image as 'the approachable co-president'. He felt that it seemed to have worked a little too well, as he politely extracted himself from Drew Tanaka's grip and ducked into the classroom.

Piper walked into the classroom a few minutes after him, her expression more sour than usual. "Isn't someone a ray of sunshine today," Jason remarked dryly.

"Screw off. Don't play the 'I'm concerned for the overall welfare of the student population' card at me today. I'm not interested in your crap." Jason was slightly taken aback. "What?" Piper began slamming down her stationary onto the table one by one.

He was at a momentary loss for words. "I thought… after the project…" he trailed off. Piper barked a laugh. It wasn't like her usual sarcastic, carefree laugh, but something heavy and bitter and forced. "You thought we were friends? Cute."

With the initial sting gone, Jason felt himself grow indignant. "Well, you're not exactly pleasant to be around, either. And I was just trying to be friendly."

"Save your breath, then," Piper said shortly. She put her head on her desk and refused to say another word to him.

Bobby, who sat behind them, muttered to Jason. "Only person she didn't lose it with today was Valdez, and it was probably only because Valdez was the only one who didn't try to ask her about what was going on. Messed up, that girl."

Jason turned back around slowly as the teacher walked in. Messed up, or whatever it was, he was determined to find out why, and piece her back together, for some reason he couldn't explain either. Only problem was that he didn't know how that could be possible now, with the delicate bridge between them starting to fissure and crack. He tried to push out the ominous voice in his head, the one that said that it was only a matter of time before it snapped altogether.

* * *

"Oh, it's you."

Reyna had lowered her head to return her focus to the pile of papers on her desk, her eyes fixed on reviewing yet another suggestion from the school's feedback boxes. Jason inched his way into the office, balancing a can of energy drink and some granola bars. "That's not due till next week, Rey."

"I just want to get this done." Reyna accepted the bar and bit into it, rubbing tiredly at her eyes as she leaned back in her chair. Beneath the layer of concealer she wore, dark circles were just barely visible. "Only five more to go."

"I'll wait for you," Jason offered. The clock read half past five, and he could hear the sounds of the staff shuffling around in the main office, getting ready to go home. She smiled gratefully, and Jason felt a surge of guilt. With all his football practices and projects and other commitments, he'd pretty much done just about the bare minimums for his role as the co-president of the student council. Some co-president he was.

He felt so guilty about it that he insisted that he send Reyna home later that evening, since her elder sister was borrowing her car. The Ramirez-Arellano house was quite a distance from the school, so by the time Jason backed his car into the garage of his own house, it was seven.

He failed to notice his father's black Mercedes parked in the garage as well, and froze in shock as Zeus called out to him from the dining room, just as he stepped into the house-

"Good of you to join us, Jason."

Jason, frozen in the motion of peeling off one of his socks, took in the scene at the dining table. Hera and Zeus sat on one side of the dining table, dressed too lavishly for a home setting, as usual, and Thalia sat on the other side of the dining table, dressed in shorts and a tattered band shirt. Her expression told Jason that she hadn't expected their father and stepmother either.

Jason carefully placed his socks in the laundry basket by the door, and put his shoes in the cabinet. Taking a seat at the dinner table, he took a sip of the sparkling water in the glass in front of him, which had obviously been prepared by the housekeeper.

"Tell me about the water you just drank, Jason," his father said abruptly. Jason stared at Zeus uncomprehendingly. Zeus clicked his tongue impatiently. "Whose money was used to pay for it?" "Yours?" Jason said uncertainly.

'Exactly!" Zeus thundered, making Jason and Thalia jump. Hera, obviously used to his dramatics, took a sip of red wine as if nothing had happened. "Everything you've done, you've managed to do- all would not be there if not for the fact that you were using _my_ money!"

"So?" Thalia had always been the bolder one out of the two siblings. "So am I right to say that you're indebted to me?" Zeus' voice had become dangerously soft. Jason could feel his heart in his throat. It was one of those moments he knew that if he said the wrong thing, he was dead. He nodded.

"Everything I've helped you accomplish, paid for you to do- it's so that you can take over as the future head of Grace Holdings!" Jason still didn't see where this was going. "And as the future head of Grace Holdings," Zeus continued, drawing out something from behind his back, "You cannot be associating with any riff-raff lowlife!"

Zeus slammed a brightly coloured magazine on the table. Piper's image was splattered on the front cover. It was clearly shot without her consent- her hands were up, shielding herself against the onslaught of cameras shoved in her face. The headline screamed "Tristan McLean's daughter: future haute couture model?"

"Hold up," Thalia exclaimed. "So what if he's friends with Piper?"

Zeus was purple in the face. "Graces do not associate with Hollywood stars. Troublemakers, all of them are. You'll never be able to wash that stain away. I don't care if she's in your English class, if I have to, I will request for you to switch classes."

"Father, you do realise that your company basically relies on the 'troublemaker Hollywood stars'?" Jason had never loved his sister so much, though he feared for her in that moment, as the air stilled and seemed to crackle with electricity as Zeus stared Thalia down.

"Go up to your room," Hera ordered. "You can't make me, you cow-" "Go up, Thalia. This is not your business." Zeus' voice held a thinly veiled threat.

Thalia shot him an apologetic look as she rose from her chair, defiantly kicking away her chair. He could hear her room door slam.

"Jason," Zeus began again. "You have always been more sensible than your sister, and I was hoping you, of all people, would understand this need to preserve our name."

"Yes, I do, but Piper is not a bad person," Jason argued. Zeus' eyes narrowed dangerously. "Very well, it seems that you still need some more persuasion. It does not matter, though. Soon you will come to see my view of things. In the meantime, if I hear any more word of you bringing this kind of lowlife into our home…"

Zeus let the threat hang in the air as he waved for the housekeeper to bring Thalia down to start the first dinner course.

 _*cautiously peeks in screen* hey :) apologies for the really delayed chapter, but I've had a couple of busy weeks and plus this school year has some important exams I really need to work for, which significantly cuts down my Internet time. Hope you're having a great day remember to hydrate friends xx_

 _p.s. what's an update list? I got a review telling me to make one sometime ago but I have no idea what it is oops_


	16. Horribly Limited

_(insp. for chapter title)_

I can never read all the books I want;

I can never be all the people I want and live all the lives I want.

I can never train myself in all the skills I want.

And why do I want?

I want to live and feel all the shades, tones and variations of

mental and physical experience possible in my life.

And I am horribly limited.

\- _Sylvia Plath_ -

* * *

Piper woke up coughing.

Her throat was dry and hurting. The blinding headache she had wasn't helping very much. She stumbled out of bed and into the bathroom, splashing her face with cold water. The little digital clock she had on her sink read: 4AM. _So much for a good night's sleep_ , she thought.

Her head hurt so much. What had happened the day before? Everything seemed to be a blur, and her head protested as she tried to recall the exact details. She'd agreed to be on one magazine cover… and _oh._

The flashing lights of the cameras, the yells, the nervous glances her friends threw her way all day after she shouted at Lacy, of all people, when she tried to offer Piper a tissue to wipe away the yoghurt stain at the bottom of her shirt. Not to mention how she'd blown up at Jason for no reason at all- she felt terrible. She'd got home and sat under the cold spray of the shower for God-knows-how-long, as if she were trying to punish herself for the things she blurted out, as if she were trying to punish herself for the people she hurt.

Her eyes look bloodshot and her hair was a rat's nest- _hardly the look of a model_ , she thought wryly.

She threw the covers up over her head, but sleep refused to return to her. The air was too heavy, the covers too thick, her skin too feverish. Eventually she stumbled downstairs a few hours later, wearing the same rumpled clothes as the day before, her hair hastily propped up in a ponytail.

Jane wrinkled her nose slightly but said nothing as she put down a bowl of oatmeal in front of her. When Piper reached out for the containers of cereal stacked at the side of the counter, Jane swatted her hand away.

"No sugary food," she admonished. "Not before your shoot." "You're not the boss of me," Piper tried to snap, but her voice came out in a croak. Jane got the gist though, and she narrowed her eyes at her. "Not quite so, young lady. At the dismal rate you're handling yourself, you need someone to show you the ropes." Piper waited until Jane's back was turned, then did a 360 degrees eye roll and flipped her off.

"Piper," Tristan admonished as he came down the stairs. Piper turned her head back to the oatmeal, which was now bland and soggy. It stuck in her throat, a lump that made her want to choke.

"You look a little off-color," Tristan said distractedly as he shuffled through a script. "You okay, Pipes?"

"Yeah." _No, but I'm not going to tell you that because you'd just ask Jane to bring me to the doctor, which she isn't going to because it'd be extra work for her, and she'll just call me lazy and attention seeking and drive me to school anyway, so what's the point?_

Tristan dropped a kiss on the top of her head as he walked out the door. "Have a nice day, honey." He was out the door before Piper had even opened her mouth to reply: _You too, Dad_.

…

To make matters worse, the gym teacher, Coach Hedge, pulled out a stereo during Gym, which only meant one thing.

"Beep test today, kids!" he yelled into his megaphone, making everyone wince. "You know the drill!'

Piper lined up beside Leo, trying to rub the sleep from her eyes. Of all days they had to have the beep test…

The other classes having gym glanced sympathetically over at them as they lined up in a row. Piper could see Jason's class doing chin-ups over at the other side of the gym, and looked away quickly before she could spot him. It would be so awkward, especially after the incident the day before, she reasoned to herself.

"On your marks, get set-" The death machine, otherwise known as the stereo sitting atop a chair, started their torture.

Piper jogged at the slowest possible pace she could before the beep, trying to nurse the stitch at her side that appeared almost immediately. Her nose was blocked for some reason or another, and she felt light-headed. It had been a terrible idea to turn up at school today, but it wasn't as if Jane was going to excuse her from school. When Piper had sneezed for the third time that morning, Jane had sniffed disdainfully, as if she were doing it deliberately to get out of school.

All the jocks in the class were trying to outdo each other, pounding each other on the backs and hollering at the ones who dropped out halfway. Leo was out by the third beep, though Piper suspected he did it on purpose. The boy didn't even have a bead of sweat on his forehead.

"Hey trashbag!" Drew's nasty voice piped up beside her. Thanks to cheerleader training, she still looked fresh-faced despite the number of laps they had done. The same could not be said for Piper, unfortunately. "Maybe if you run fast enough, you could outrun the ugliness that follows you everywhere," she said in a mock confidential tone. "Unfortunately, I don't think that is going to happen anytime soon." She smirked at Piper and ran ahead.

Piper felt a surge of anger. Had she been at her full strength, she would probably have enough energy to run ahead and tell Drew exactly what she thought of her intelligence and probably put her to shame for the next decade, but as of her current state, she didn't think she could even make it to the line before the next beep.

She was tempted to give up right there- her legs felt too unsteady and she was starting to see spots- but Drew's taunts echoed in her head over and over. She ran on.

Piper reached the line just before the beep, and started yet another lap. Drew sped past her. Somewhere amongst the haze of her mind, a few words made their way to her consciousness. _Can't… let her reach the line before me. Must… beat her_. Piper cursed her ingrained competitiveness; even as she let her legs move faster and let her strides grow longer. Drew's back was drawing closer, and all Piper had to do was to take a few more strides-

She forced herself to sprint and reached the line right before Drew did, and promptly collapsed onto the ground.

…

Piper supposed that she deserved it.

The school nurse had informed her that she had a fever, and had better go home and rest. That much was obvious to Piper herself, but from the way the school nurse had enunciated every syllable like Piper was a six year-old, it was clear that she thought the opposite. She couldn't blame the nurse- after all, which mature and logical high school senior takes the beep test when they know they're running a temperature?

Katie, Lacey, Hazel and Leo had all come to check in on her at the sick bay. Katie had pointedly rolled her eyes at Piper, muttering something under her breath about foolish competition with the unworthy, before producing handwritten notes from the classes she'd missed and slamming them down on the bedside table, which, Piper knew, was Katie's special way of showing she cared. She smiled in spite of herself.

Leo had stayed on after the others left for lunch, claiming that he wasn't that hungry anyway. He sat in the chair by the bed, fingers furiously tapping on random spots on the screen of his phone. Piper's phone lighted up with a text- Jane was running an "important errand", and couldn't pick her up until her actual dismissal time.

In other words, Jane didn't want to mess up her carefully planned schedule over some small issue like Piper being sick.

Piper was bored out of her mind. She poked Leo. "Quit staring at the screen."

Leo tore his eyes away from Plants versus Zombies with some difficulty and gave Piper a semi-annoyed look. "Entertain me," she said petulantly.

"I'll tell you a bedtime story." Leo steepled his fingers, resting his chin on them, grinning mischievously. "A long, long time ago, in a galaxy far, far away-"

"That's cheating, Leo," Piper pointed out. "I know the Star Wars plot line when I hear it."

Leo sighed in defeat just as the bell rang. "You can take a nerd out of the Internet, but you can't take the Internet out of the nerd," he mutters. Piper's eyes widened and a scolding was in her throat when he pushed his chair back hastily and stood up. "Gotta run. I have a test to fail." He ran off before Piper could form the words "screw you".

Piper slumped back into her pillows. A boring day stretched ahead of her, the dreariness she could foresee almost making her groan out loud. She twiddled with her phone for a bit, too restless to go to sleep. She was contemplating sneaking back to class when the door creaked open and two tall boys edged their way quietly into the room.

Piper's brows furrowed. "Jason? Percy?"

The latter grinned easily at her, albeit a little confused. "'Sup, Piper." He rocked back and forth on his heels, his hands shoved into the pockets of his hoodie as Jason closed the door behind him.

Piper was a little baffled. Jason coming to see her- while she hadn't treated him in the best way the day before, she could understand, but Percy? She'd almost never exchanged a word with him before, and with the exception of maybe Jason and Hazel, they didn't even have mutual friends, which made it all the more confusing as to why he would visit Piper in the sick bay.

"Heard about your, uh, fall," Jason said awkwardly. Piper wanted to laugh. For the co-president of the student council, Jason Grace was really overselling his people skills. "So we came to check in on you. Y'know, to see how you were doing, as friends-"

"There's no 'we' in this, bro." Percy gave him a deadpan look. "You said you had an errand to run for the student council. A project that Annabeth and you were looking into." He seemed to realise how it'd come out, and smiled apologetically at Piper. "Not that I didn't want to see you or anything, but I barely know you, so…" He trailed off, and both Piper and Percy looked expectantly towards Jason, who looked as though there were a million other places he would rather be right then.

"There was no 'errand' or any 'combined project with Annabeth', was there?" Percy said shrewdly.

"There is!" Jason protested. When Percy arched his eyebrow at him, he added under his breath, "We finished it a week ago." At Percy's expression, Piper laughed outright.

"Anyway," Jason said loudly, possibly to cover the slight pinking of his cheeks. Percy rolled his eyes at Jason's back, and Piper felt her estimation of Percy rise. "Can't a friend check in on a friend? When, you know, they're sick or something? I mean, when Percy broke his foot, Calypso, Reyna, Rachel and Annabeth all came to see him- can't I do that for a friend too?"

There was a brief silence. Percy looked nonplussed. "No one said you couldn't, bro."

"Oh." Embarrassment crept across Jason's face. "Oh indeed," Piper interjected, enjoying herself too much to remain silent. Her headache had disappeared quite miraculously, and she would even dare say that her temperature might be starting to go down. "Really, Jason," Piper said mockingly. "It isn't that hard to just pop by and say 'you alright?' Heck, I could do it in my sleep. We really need to do something about this social interaction thing, Grace." Percy held out his fist wordlessly, and Piper obliged him with a fist-bump, and decided then and there that she liked Percy Jackson very much. If she'd had a brother, she would've wanted him to be exactly like Percy.

"Bro," Jason said almost helplessly to Percy, and it took all of Piper's willpower right there to not dissolve into giggles at the betrayed look on Jason's face. "Well, boys," she fought to keep the smile off her face, "I'm sure you have class to go back to."

"Yeah," Percy reached up a hand to mess up his hair, making him look more like a cute sea animal, though Piper strongly suspected that he did it unconsciously. "We need to go. I promised Annabeth I'd pass math this semester."

Jason produced a box of salad from nowhere and set it down on the table. Piper belatedly realised that she was starving, and opened it gratefully. "Thought they wouldn't have given you much," Jason muttered, busying himself with rearranging all the items on her bedside table, straightening things and stacking them up (what a nerd, Piper thinks almost fondly).

"Thanks," is all Piper can manage before she delves into the food. Jason finally detaches himself from Piper's bedside table- everything is stacked into neat piles and her rubbish is in the bin- and walks to the door. "Get well soon," he grins his Hi-I'm-The-Student-Council-President grin at her. Piper is too engrossed in her food to tell him off.

"You too," Piper says distractedly. Percy laughs and drags Jason out.

* * *

 _hello smol friends I'm so sorry for not updating ahhh my mid-year exams have just ended woop I'm free (not really though I have another major exam coming up) so yeah also I was in a really bad place when I was writing the first half of this chapter and I felt much better when I was writing the second half, hence the contrast in the tone. Also I might be experimenting with present tense writing style it's fun yay :D ok you know the drill stay hydrated have fun be nice until next time~_


	17. Dazed, Out Our Minds

_(insp. for chapter)_

The life that I have

Is all that I have

And the life that I have

Is yours.

The love that I have

Of the life that I have

Is yours and yours and yours

 _\- Leo Marks -_

* * *

Drew and her cronies stopped pantomiming Piper's collapse during the Beep Test after three days, which was way better than she'd anticipated. To her own credit, she had managed to keep her temper under control, maintaining a pretty fantastic poker face while seething inside every time Drew staged one of her roadshows.

"Breathe, Piper," Katie whispered urgently into her ear, her fingers encircling Piper's forearm in a vice grip as they marched past Drew to their table in the cafeteria. Whether it was meant to ground her or hold her back, Piper didn't know.

"She'll get bored," Will said dismissively, even as he shot a glare in Drew's general direction, the overall effect more unsettling because it was coming from Will-"ray of sunshine"-Solace. Piper found herself appreciating him more and more, especially when he yelled some choice words at Drew when Drew called Piper a racial slur that made everyone in the vicinity gasp.

"Normal insults, whatever," Will explained to her later over lunch. "Resorting to insults about someone's skin colour? That's low." Piper felt her fondness for him grow exponentially.

Piper envisioned Drew's head on the top of her vegetarian burger and bit it off viciously. "I've literally done _nothing_ to her. What's her deal?"

Drew did eventually get bored, and the mockery ended after about a week. Piper couldn't help but feel a significant difference between the bullying she'd experienced in her old schools and at Jupiter High. Sure, all the bullies were queen bees of sorts, but in her old schools, she'd had no one on her side, having to resort to eating lunch alone in the toilet cubicles to avoid the insults, sometimes even objects, thrown at her, from all those people desperate to get on the good side of their queen bee. Piper had had to stand up for herself, fight them off herself, risking suspension from school. Having a group of people on her side- it was a refreshing change, to say the least.

She was glad that she'd offered Leo that ride on the first day of school.

"Pipes!" Leo called out to her now, hurrying to catch up with her on her way to her next class. He was cradling his phone in his hands, grinning from ear to ear. "Check this out." On his phone screen was a tweet from Marvel's official Twitter account. "Two-time Oscar nominee Tristan McLean joins the cast of the next Captain America movie!" the tweet read. Attached to the tweet was the poster of Tristan McLean's latest movie, where he stood, front facing the camera, clad only in jeans and a white tank top, bruised and bloody. Piper had to work to hide the blanch that came whenever she saw one of those posters.

"Isn't it awesome?" Leo exclaimed. Piper forced a smile. "Guess so."

Leo looked mystified by Piper's lack of reaction. Piper was a hardcore fan of the Marvel Cinematic Universe, and much of the reason they'd bonded so well was the countless lunches spent huddling around Leo's phone, sharing a pair of earphones as they watched "Steve Rogers x Bucky Barnes" videos. "You don't like Tristan McLean?"

Will, whom Piper decides there and then is her "knight-in-shining-armour", sweeps in to save her. After all, he's the only one (besides Jason) who knows about the whole movie star dad thing. "I don't know, man," he suddenly appears over their shoulders. "I mean Tristan McLean's more suited for more uh- romantic war movies, right?" He nudged Piper meaningfully.

Despite the fact that it made Piper even more grossed out at the thought of her dad in a _romantic_ war movie, Will's intervention did save Piper from having to come up with an excuse for her lacklustre response. "Yeah. Fantasy, superhero stuff- doesn't really suit him."

Leo raised an eyebrow dubiously, and opened his mouth to say something, but someone else- Calypso- hailed him over. "Catch ya later," he called over his shoulder.

"That was close," Piper let out a sigh of relief. Will frowned slightly, staring in Leo's direction. "You do plan to tell them eventually though, don't you?"

Piper passed a hand over her eyes tiredly. "I don't know. Maybe." _Maybe never_ , she added internally.

Will nodded knowingly, as if he'd seen right through her. He probably had, being Will. "If they're really your friends, they'd keep your secret."

He was right, of course, annoying as it was. "I'll cross that bridge when I come to it. In the meantime," she side-eyed him, "I owe you one."

"I know how you can pay me back." Will's grin was bright and blinding and real. "Ice-cream tomorrow after school. My treat."

Piper laughed. "That's not really me paying you back, is it?"

"Yes," Will explained with an air of mock-patience. "It's called a date, Piper."

 _Why not?_ Piper thought. Making a mental note to invent some excuse to Jane, she smiled up at Will. "Looks like you got yourself a date."

* * *

Her coffee was taking ages to come.

Drew Tanaka drummed her perfectly manicured nails on the countertop, long tresses piled atop her head in a bun. She crossed her legs as she sat atop the barstool, brushing an imaginary piece of lint off her leggings. She expertly reapplied another layer of gloss without using a mirror, and ignored the shameless stares from the males in the room, suppressing an inner shudder of disgust.

The barista was laughing at something his friend said, slowly pumping syrup into a Styrofoam cup as he did so. He strolled over to the hot water jug.

The timestamp on her phone read: 2.45PM.

She let a hiss of impatience escape her, angling her purse towards him so the logo on her bag was in full view. The barista's pace was as slow as ever.

2.46PM.

"Hurry up," she snapped. 'Or I'll call your manager' hung unspoken in the air, a thinly veiled threat. The lanky barista gulped and hastily stirred in the cream, putting the lid on and quickly handed it to her without meeting her eyes.

She all but snatched the coffee out of his hand and stalked out of the coffee shop, her slim fingers reaching up to snap her shades down from the top of her head. She slammed the car door behind her. "Drive," she ordered, and her driver pulled out of the curb onto the street.

She leaned back into the leather seat, sipping at the hot coffee. She kept her eyes fixed on the digital clock at the front of the car, watching the numbers climb. A quick glance at the street they were on told her that she would certainly be late.

3.00PM. Her phone screen lighted up with a message, simply reading 'She's home.'

She set her jaw, took a deep swallow of the coffee, letting the scalding liquid burn it's way down her throat. The pain was red and raw and numbing, but if you didn't know the coffee had been burning hot, there was no way to tell.

* * *

"Jason." Reyna's tone indicated that it wasn't the first time she'd tried to get his attention.

Jason shook himself out of his daze. "Sorry," he muttered as he focused his attention back to the stack of papers on the table. "What were you saying again?"

Reyna started explaining the algebra question to Jason again, and he found his attention wandering to that corner of the ice-cream parlour again, where Piper sat across Will Solace, laughing at something he said. Of course, as luck would have it, he'd walked into the same parlour as they were in. Not that it mattered to him, of course.

A huge glass filled with colourful orbs of ice cream sat in front of her, drizzled with chocolate sauce, piled with whipped cream and topped with not one but multiple cherries. Solace seemed to be daring her to finish the entire glass, to which her jaw set in its familiar stubborn way as she glared at him playfully. Her hair fell like light molasses, framing her face in a way that was completely natural, effortless. Her eyes were the colour of honey today- or were they cocoa? Trying to figure out their colour was one of the few things that he could spent hours at a time doing. No doubt Solace felt the same- _who wouldn't?_

There was a chocolate stain at the corner of her mouth, and as Will reached out to wipe it away with a paper napkin, something tightened in his chest. An ache he could not explain-

"Look, Jason, if you aren't going to listen, what's the point in me explaining this for the third time?" Reyna pushed his worksheet back towards him. "Do it on your own."

"Rey-" She'd already turned back to her sundae- coffee flavoured, because Reyna didn't like sweet things. Jason's own ice cream platter sat untouched as he attempted to wade through the problem sum, this time on his own. It proved mildly effective for concentrating on his work, but he couldn't help but feel like it defeated the entire purpose of a relaxing day off from work, as Annabeth had suggested, after walking in on Reyna with bags under her eyes, working alone in the student council office. It turned out that she hadn't left school at all, and had been working through the night, she herself unaware of the time passed.

He said as much to Reyna, earning a frown from her. "Jason, those projects aren't going to do themselves, you know."

"Just one afternoon off?" he pleaded. Reyna faltered, and he could see her being sorely tempted by the idea. "For me?" he added, making sure to widen his eyes in the way that Annabeth had once called "impossible to deny". He used it to his full advantage now, because seeing Reyna work so hard on anything- it made him guilty too, which made him work harder to feel less guilty, which made him more exhausted.

"Fine," she gave in. Jason grinned and quickly put his homework out of sight before Reyna could change her mind.

"So, what are we going to do about the appeal for larger classrooms?" Reyna asked, scrolling through the list on her phone. Jason winced.

"Can we please not talk about anything school-related? No student council, no studying…"

Reyna rolled her eyes, but changed the topic anyway. Reyna being willing to compromise- that was rare. In his mind's eye she was always the girl who stood steadfast and unyielding, a rock for more than half of his life.

His train of thought was disrupted by Piper's yell of victory from her table, and resolutely tried to ignore it. Out of the corner of his eye he saw Will mock pouting, and aiming a soaking napkin at Piper. Snatching the napkin and smacking it flat onto Will's chest, Piper laughed delightedly, loud and free, and raced out of the parlor, Will hot on her heels.

Jason felt a sudden pang. When was the last time he'd had a friend like that? Who he could laugh with, and for once, not feel like the entire world was resting on his shoulders? Who lived in the present, not in the future? Someone he could feel free with, who appreciated the little things in life, and maybe see the world. He'd always wanted to see Romania-

No. He was getting lazy- thinking about relaxing, not focusing on the bigger picture. His father may be harsh, but he was right. Dreams didn't come true overnight. It was hard work that would get him to where he wanted to be. And Reyna- Reyna always knew what was best for him.

"Y'know, Rey," he said suddenly, cutting her off mid-sentence. "You're my best friend."

Reyna looked at him quizzically, a hint of a pleased smile inching onto her face nonetheless. "Lucky you."

* * *

yay another chapter up! thank you for the positive reviews so far :) they really motivate me to keep writing. also, check out The Life That I Have by Leo Marks it's a heartbreakingly beautiful poem, especially once you know the context. dw it has no influence on the plot of this story whatsoever, it's just something I really loved recently. until next time, stay hydrated be nice etc xx


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